Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Receives $186.67 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $192.83.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NUE. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Nucor from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th.

Nucor Stock Up 0.3 %

NUE stock opened at $192.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.20. Nucor has a twelve month low of $129.79 and a twelve month high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.33. Nucor had a net margin of 13.03% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The company had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.89 earnings per share. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Nucor will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 12.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total value of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total transaction of $1,025,035.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total value of $1,901,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 80,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,386,751.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,151 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,683 over the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 15,470.4% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 4,177 shares during the period. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 208.0% in the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Company Profile

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.