Insider Selling: Nucor (NYSE:NUE) COO Sells $2,903,788.80 in Stock

Key Points

• COO Stephen Laxton sold 10,560 Nucor shares for about $2.90 million, reducing his stake by 11.94% to 77,867 shares.
• Nucor’s latest quarterly revenue rose 32% year over year to $11.25 billion, beating estimates, while EPS of $5.80 narrowly missed consensus of $5.84.
• Analysts hold a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $287.38; shares fell 2.9% in Wednesday’s session to $265.71.

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) COO Stephen Laxton sold 10,560 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.98, for a total value of $2,903,788.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,411,867.66. The trade was a 11.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Nucor Stock Down 2.9%

Nucor stock traded down $7.82 on Wednesday, hitting $265.71. 1,310,704 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,540,436. Nucor Corporation has a 1 year low of $140.93 and a 1 year high of $287.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $255.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.47. The firm has a market cap of $60.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.81.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The basic materials company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.84 by ($0.04). Nucor had a net margin of 9.26% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $11.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.63 EPS. Nucor's revenue for the quarter was up 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.26%.

Nucor News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Nucor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its price target to $301 and maintained an “overweight” rating. CFRA also upgraded Nucor from “strong sell” to “hold,” a less-negative stance. Analyst rating coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly revenue grew 32% year over year and beat estimates, while fourth-quarter guidance was described as steady to slightly better than recent results. Earnings per share narrowly missed consensus, tempering the report. Nucor earnings and guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Nucor’s strong cash flow and balance sheet, along with moderating capital spending, are supporting shareholder returns, including buybacks and dividends. Nucor long-term investor takeaways
• Neutral Sentiment: Nucor had recently shown strong relative performance and reached a 52-week high, making the reported single-session pullback consistent with possible profit-taking after a substantial rally. Nucor share-price swing
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders have sold shares. Most recently, COO Stephen Laxton sold 10,560 shares, reducing his position by 11.94%; Michael Keller and EVP Allen Behr also reported sales. Such transactions may add caution, though they do not by themselves establish a negative business outlook. Laxton SEC filing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler set a $304.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Cfra upgraded shares of Nucor from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Nucor from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $270.00 target price on Nucor in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $287.38.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 19.3% in the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 510,331 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $86,297,000 after acquiring an additional 82,668 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 31.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 61,952 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $13,800,000 after purchasing an additional 14,736 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Nucor during the 2nd quarter worth about $7,954,000. BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the 2nd quarter worth about $852,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Nucor by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,809,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $306,054,000 after purchasing an additional 29,476 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation is a steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company manufactures steel and steel products for customers in construction, automotive, energy, heavy equipment, transportation and other industrial markets.

Nucor's operations include electric arc furnace steel mills, which produce carbon, alloy and galvanized steel products. Its product portfolio includes sheet steel, plate, beams, bars, wire and wire mesh, steel joists, deck, piling, fabricated concrete reinforcing steel and other downstream products.

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