Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Short Interest Down 18.6% in December

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 in the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,785 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 29,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,523 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 274.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 177,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,685,000 after acquiring an additional 129,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth $216,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.63.

Nucor Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:NUE traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor has a one year low of $112.25 and a one year high of $203.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $133.52 and its 200-day moving average is $144.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Nucor will post 8.19 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.26%.

Nucor Company Profile

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.