Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $150.00.

NUE has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total value of $906,342.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,707,592.73. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total transaction of $1,303,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. The trade was a 9.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,326 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,108 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Canal Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,512 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,247 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Diligent Investors LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 2,296 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:NUE traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $139.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 92,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,234,976. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.81. Nucor has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $170.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.52.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.25 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.82% and a net margin of 4.40%. Nucor's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. Research analysts expect that Nucor will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Nucor's payout ratio is currently 39.15%.

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.