Covered, compounding — cyclical, low yield. A 0.87% yield is small income, but it is covered many times over: $0.56 a quarter on a 17.9% payout, raised 1.8% from $0.55 in December 2025. Nucor is a cyclical steelmaker, so the point of this card is a payout that survives the cycle — at under a fifth of earnings, it has room to do so — not current income.
Key risk: Steel cyclicality — prices and volumes swing with construction and manufacturing demand, and heavy growth capital spending (a guided $3.3 billion capex peak in 2025) can turn free cash flow negative even while earnings cover the dividend.
Changes if: The payout climbs past 40% in a steel downturn, or the dividend is held flat for more than a year while earnings fall.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 17.9% of trailing earnings — $2.24 indicated. Very wide cushion, even for a cyclical.
- ✓Yield check: 0.87% indicated — $0.56/qtr × 4 at the $258.11 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Small but real and earned.
- ✓Dividend growth check: Quarterly dividend raised 1.8% in December 2025, from $0.55 to $0.56, continuing a long annual-raise run; the streak length is not stated on the card because it was not verified from company filings.
What this grade doesn't say: It screens the dividend only — covered, real, compounding. It says nothing about valuation or price: a well-covered payer can still be overpriced, and its price can still fall.