Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $179.31 and last traded at $177.90, with a volume of 212328 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $174.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on NUE. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Nucor from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Nucor from $182.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Nucor from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.27.

Nucor Trading Down 0.1%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.77 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $41.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.87.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $8.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.27 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 7.80% and a net margin of 5.18%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. Nucor has set its Q4 2025 guidance at -2.630 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 31.46%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.28, for a total transaction of $330,560.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,967,106.56. This represents a 10.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Hollatz sold 7,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $1,049,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,470,914. This trade represents a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,995 shares of company stock worth $3,990,634. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,462 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Nucor by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in Nucor by 5.6% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Nucor by 51.4% during the 2nd quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Nucor by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Nucor

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.