Zacks Research Has Optimistic Outlook of Nucor Q4 Earnings

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q4 2024 earnings estimates for Nucor in a report issued on Monday, November 11th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the basic materials company will earn $1.01 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.00. The consensus estimate for Nucor’s current full-year earnings is $8.52 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Nucor’s Q1 2025 earnings at $2.20 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $3.10 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.52 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $2.64 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.57.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $146.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor has a 52 week low of $133.42 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $148.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.22.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.57 earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 8,530.1% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,819,000 after buying an additional 1,576,695 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Nucor by 29.7% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,884,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $456,030,000 after buying an additional 660,866 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the third quarter valued at $74,829,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 14,525.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 326,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,144,000 after buying an additional 324,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the third quarter valued at $46,731,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 over the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.87%.

About Nucor

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.