Brokerages Set Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) Target Price at $150.00

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $150.00.

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

Nucor Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:NUE traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $140.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,458,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,240,111. Nucor has a fifty-two week low of $97.59 and a fifty-two week high of $170.52. The business's fifty day moving average is $121.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.52. The firm has a market cap of $32.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.70.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). Nucor had a return on equity of 6.82% and a net margin of 4.40%. The business had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Nucor will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total value of $1,303,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at $12,265,209.60. This represents a 9.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total value of $4,115,065.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 162,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,590,128.67. This trade represents a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,326 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,108. 0.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 73.5% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 81.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 340 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.