Short Interest in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Drops By 18.6%

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,760,000 shares, a drop of 18.6% from the December 15th total of 5,850,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Nucor in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in Nucor by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $124.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,842,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,239,521. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Nucor has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nucor will post 8.19 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NUE. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.63.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. It operates in three segments: steel mills, steel products, and raw materials. The Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and sheet piling structural steel products; bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and engineered special bar quality products; and engages in the steel trading and rebar distribution businesses.