Analysts Set Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Price Target at $189.67

Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $189.67.

NUE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Bank of America cut their price target on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Nucor from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th.

Nucor Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:NUE opened at $158.08 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $166.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.79. The stock has a market cap of $37.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.30 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 has a 12 month low of $140.07 and a 12 month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). Nucor had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 12.40%. The company had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Nucor will post 10.84 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at about $377,631,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $108,747,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at $90,216,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,070,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $360,430,000 after buying an additional 237,752 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the first quarter worth $37,395,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.