Nucor (NYSE:NUE) EVP Bradley Ford Sells 2,240 Shares

Key Points

• Bradley Ford, Nucor's EVP, sold 2,240 shares on May 5 at an average price of $232.13 for about $519,971, reducing his stake by 4.88% to 43,649 shares (valued at roughly $10.13M).
• Nucor beat quarterly estimates with Q1 EPS of $3.23 vs. $2.82 consensus and revenue of $9.50 billion, up 21.3% year-over-year.
• The board authorized a $4.00 billion share repurchase program (up to ~9.7% of shares) and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.56 ($2.24 annualized, ~1.0% yield).

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) EVP Bradley Ford sold 2,240 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.13, for a total transaction of $519,971.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,649 shares in the company, valued at $10,132,242.37. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE NUE traded down $7.85 on Thursday, hitting $226.37. 781,811 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,659,010. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $183.07 and a 200-day moving average of $170.61. The stock has a market cap of $51.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.87. Nucor Corporation has a 52 week low of $106.21 and a 52 week high of $235.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.41. Nucor had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 6.82%.The company had revenue of $9.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 13.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Nucor's payout ratio is 22.18%.

Nucor announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NUE shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Nucor from $196.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group downgraded Nucor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $190.00 to $224.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $243.80.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stance Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth $25,000. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 49.2% during the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 191 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.