Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $195.00.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Nucor from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $187.00 to $176.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $1,379,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,840. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $625,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at about $222,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Nucor by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 729.2% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 14,834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,582,000 after purchasing an additional 13,045 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $140.95 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor has a fifty-two week low of $137.91 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.93.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.69 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The company’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nucor will post 9.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.