Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Buy" from the eight research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $150.00.

NUE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total transaction of $906,342.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,707,592.73. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total transaction of $4,115,065.22. Following the transaction, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,326 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,108. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NUE. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 5,419 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth $64,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth $15,452,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth $38,714,000. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 18,930 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,209,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE traded up $3.69 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $143.39. The stock had a trading volume of 1,967,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,245,251. Nucor has a fifty-two week low of $97.59 and a fifty-two week high of $170.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $122.30 and a 200-day moving average of $123.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $33.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.70.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Nucor will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.