In the third quarter, Sowell Financial Services LLC reduced its position in Nucor Corporation by 75.4%, selling 6,461 shares and retaining just 2,105 shares valued at $285,000 at quarter end. Other notable moves include Hudson Capital Management LLC increasing its stake by 6.6% to 34,784 shares (worth $4.5 million) and Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosting its holdings by 138.5% to 121,543 shares (valued at $15.7 million). Meanwhile, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC and Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. initiated new positions worth $236,000 and $5.2 million respectively, and Busey Bank expanded its stake by 40.1% to 111,938 shares (approximately $14.5 million). Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 76.48% of Nucor’s outstanding stock.

Analysts have been updating their outlook on Nucor over the past two months. Goldman Sachs raised its target from $173 to $182 and maintained a buy recommendation. BNP Paribas Exane boosted its objective from $165 to $185 and affirmed an outperform rating. BMO Capital Markets continued to rate the shares as outperform. Wall Street Zen, however, downgraded Nucor from buy to hold in late December. Overall, ten analysts currently assign a buy rating and one a hold, yielding a consensus of Moderate Buy with an average target near $174.

In its latest quarterly report, Nucor delivered earnings per share of $2.63, beating consensus estimates by $0.33, on revenues of $8.52 billion, up 14.5% year-over-year and ahead of the $8.27 billion forecast. Return on equity stood at 7.8% with a net margin of 5.18%. Year-to-date, the company guided fourth-quarter EPS at negative $2.63, reflecting anticipated cyclicality in steel markets, while consensus expectations for fiscal 2025 EPS remain at $7.64.

Nucor declared a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share payable on February 11 to shareholders of record as of December 31, representing a 1.3% yield and a 1.8% increase over the prior quarterly payout. The annualized dividend of $2.24 corresponds to a payout ratio of 31.46%, underscoring the company’s commitment to returning capital even as it maintains a conservative debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.