Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised Nucor from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group started coverage on Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a buy rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Nucor from $151.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $186.67.

Nucor Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $198.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 3.57. Nucor has a 52 week low of $129.79 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $189.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 1.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 13.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total transaction of $1,901,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 80,902 shares in the company, valued at $15,386,751.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Nucor news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total value of $1,901,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares in the company, valued at $15,386,751.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marcum Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the first quarter valued at $204,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. M. Kraus & Co bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at $201,000. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $770,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 74.6% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 19,142 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,789,000 after purchasing an additional 8,181 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently 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.