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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NUE stock opened at $137.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51. Nucor has a 52-week low of $112.25 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The company has a market capitalization of $32.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $124.89 and its 200 day moving average is $140.34.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $3.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.13.

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.