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

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment 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 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $150.00.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NUE shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of 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 research note on Monday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th.

Nucor Stock Up 2.1%

Nucor stock traded up $2.93 during trading on Monday, reaching $139.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,974,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,238,616. Nucor has a 52-week low of $97.59 and a 52-week high of $170.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $120.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $32.28 billion, a PE ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.70.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Nucor will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Nucor's payout ratio is 39.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 99,379 shares in the company, valued at $12,707,592.73. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 162,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 51,326 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,108 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

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