Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $165.63.

NUE has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company.

Nucor Stock Up 0.4 %

NUE stock opened at $118.62 on Monday. Nucor has a 1-year low of $112.25 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.85 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 8.48 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 21.26%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nucor during the third quarter worth about $43,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.