Nucor (NYSE:NUE) PT Lowered to $200.00 at Bank of America

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price objective lowered by Bank of America from $210.00 to $200.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on NUE. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They set a hold rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Nucor from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Citigroup upgraded Nucor from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $189.67.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $154.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.06. Nucor has a 1-year low of $140.07 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The firm has a market cap of $37.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $8.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.45 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 10.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 12.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at about $377,631,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at about $108,747,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the first quarter valued at about $90,216,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Nucor by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,070,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $360,430,000 after purchasing an additional 237,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the first quarter valued at about $37,395,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

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.