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

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) was the target of a large 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 short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE traded up $1.04 on Friday, reaching $124.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,842,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,239,521. The business's 50-day moving average price is $133.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.57. The company has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor has a 12-month low of $112.25 and a 12-month high of $203.00. 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 (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. Nucor's revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.57 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. 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 21.26%.

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.