Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Issues Q1 Earnings Guidance

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) issued an update on its first quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $0.50-0.60 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.33.

Nucor Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:NUE traded down $1.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $129.42. 2,790,132 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,824,174. Nucor has a one year low of $112.25 and a one year high of $203.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $130.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.07. The company has a market cap of $29.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Nucor will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.16%.

Nucor Company Profile

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.