Nucor (NUE) Rating Increased to Buy at Longbow Research

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) was upgraded by stock analysts at Longbow Research from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on NUE. BMO Capital Markets set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Nucor and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 26th. ValuEngine cut shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. Macquarie initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Nucor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Nucor has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.80.

Nucor (NYSE NUE) traded up $1.42 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $63.85. 3,956,353 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,770,000. Nucor has a one year low of $51.67 and a one year high of $66.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 2.11. The company has a market cap of $20,300.00, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.58.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. Nucor had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $5.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.5% compared to the same quarter last year. research analysts forecast that Nucor will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In related news, Chairman John J. Ferriola sold 15,131 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.40, for a total value of $913,912.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 349,506 shares in the company, valued at $21,110,162.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ladd R. Hall sold 17,583 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.94, for a total transaction of $1,018,759.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 206,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,959,163.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,717 shares of company stock worth $2,470,331 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Boys Arnold & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Nucor by 0.3% during the second quarter. Boys Arnold & Co. Inc. now owns 16,679 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $965,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 0.5% during the second quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 12,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $705,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA increased its position in shares of Nucor by 0.4% during the second quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA now owns 21,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Nucor by 1.4% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 1.4% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 74.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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About Nucor

Nucor Corporation (Nucor) manufactures steel and steel products. The Company produces direct reduced iron (DRI) for use in its steel mills. It operates in three segments: steel mills, steel products and raw materials. The steel mills segment produces and distributes sheet steel (hot-rolled, cold-rolled and galvanized), plate steel, structural steel (wide-flange beams, beam blanks, H-piling and sheet piling) and bar steel (blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing bar, merchant bar, wire rod and special bar quality).