Nucor (NYSE:NUE) to Buyback $4.00 billion in Outstanding Shares

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, February 20th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NUE shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Nucor from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Nucor from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $182.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.36.

Nucor Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NUE opened at $179.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $41.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $174.25 and a 200 day moving average of $155.42. Nucor has a 52-week low of $97.59 and a 52-week high of $196.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.18). Nucor had a return on equity of 8.26% and a net margin of 5.37%.The firm had revenue of $7.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nucor will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.71%.

Nucor News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Nucor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes $4.0 billion share repurchase (up to ~9.7% of shares), signalling management believes shares are undervalued and should boost EPS/return of capital; supportive for the stock. RTT News: Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Declared regular quarterly dividend of $0.56 (212th consecutive quarterly payout); payable May 11 to shareholders of record Mar 31. Dividend continuity reduces investor uncertainty and underscores free-cash-flow discipline (annualized yield ~1.2%). PR Newswire: Dividend & Repurchase Program
• Neutral Sentiment: Promotion of John L. “Jack” Sullivan to CFO, Treasurer & EVP — internal hire (Treasurer) that preserves continuity in finance leadership; reduces execution risk vs. an external hire but market impact depends on investors’ view of his track record. PR Newswire: CFO Promotion
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage piece on analyst sentiment — some Wall Street commentary is bullish, but investors should weigh recent fundamentals (Nucor missed EPS and revenue in its Jan quarter) against the new buyback/dividend actions. Yahoo Finance: Analyst Coverage

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.28, for a total transaction of $330,560.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,952 shares in the company, valued at $2,967,106.56. This represents a 10.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 7,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.50, for a total transaction of $1,426,568.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 67,711 shares in the company, valued at $12,763,523.50. The trade was a 10.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,351 shares of company stock valued at $6,206,158. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.