Morgan Stanley Lowers Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Price Target to $170.00

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $170.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 14.11% from the company’s current price.

NUE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.00.

Nucor Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $148.98 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $149.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.43. The company has a market cap of $35.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor has a 12-month low of $133.42 and a 12-month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.37. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The business had revenue of $8.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 9.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $1,379,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,049 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,840. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Nucor by 129.0% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nucor by 94.2% in the 1st quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Nucor by 208.0% in the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. 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.