Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Updates Q1 Earnings Guidance

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.33.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock traded down $1.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $129.42. 2,790,132 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,824,174. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $130.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.07. Nucor has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.