Stephen Laxton Sells 3,968 Shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Stock

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) COO Stephen Laxton sold 3,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.96, for a total transaction of $1,019,617.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,008,704.32. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Nucor Trading Up 1.2%

Nucor stock traded up $3.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $260.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 345,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,621,023. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $242.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.89. Nucor Corporation has a 1 year low of $131.32 and a 1 year high of $270.90.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $4.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $10.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.15 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 7.99%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 17.84 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Nucor from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Argus raised their target price on Nucor from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Nucor from $210.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Nucor from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Nucor from $224.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.31.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,407,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,633,554,000 after acquiring an additional 144,038 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Nucor by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,853,205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $628,497,000 after purchasing an additional 41,728 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $609,002,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,539,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $429,298,000 after purchasing an additional 22,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,919,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $313,152,000 after acquiring an additional 56,565 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Company Profile

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value?added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.