The Goldman Sachs Group Begins Coverage on Nucor (NYSE:NUE)

The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE) in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 22.60% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Argus raised shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.50.

Nucor Trading Down 0.9 %

NUE opened at $154.98 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.02. Nucor has a twelve month low of $133.42 and a twelve month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Nucor will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,499,436. The trade was a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $883,732,000 after buying an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Nucor by 2.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,909,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $617,915,000 after buying an additional 84,558 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Nucor by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after buying an additional 571,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Nucor by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,160,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $341,580,000 after acquiring an additional 67,974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.