Short Interest in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Decreases By 16.5%

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,440,000 shares, a drop of 16.5% from the January 15th total of 5,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE opened at $137.75 on Friday. 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 has a one year low of $112.25 and a one year high of $203.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $3.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. 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 cut their target price on Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.13.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Nucor by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 652,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $98,097,000 after acquiring an additional 20,258 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at $565,000. BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at $681,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $883,732,000 after buying an additional 74,569 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.