Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Nucor carries a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy", with 12 buy ratings and 4 hold ratings among 16 analysts. The average 12-month price target is about $266.31.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $3.23 EPS versus the $2.82 estimate and $9.50 billion in revenue versus $8.88 billion expected. Revenue rose 21.3% year over year.
• Nucor also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share, payable August 11, which works out to an annualized dividend of $2.24 and a yield of about 1.0%.

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the sixteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $266.3077.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nucor from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. CICC Research started coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, May 25th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $260.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock opened at $235.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $53.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.91. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $239.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.40. Nucor has a 12-month low of $131.32 and a 12-month high of $270.90.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.88 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 6.82%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Nucor will post 17.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.18%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP John J. Hollatz sold 10,560 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.46, for a total transaction of $2,729,337.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 97,865 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,294,187.90. This represents a 9.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Noah C. Hanners sold 6,472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total value of $1,465,908.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 50,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,410,390.50. The trade was a 11.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 82,378 shares of company stock worth $18,963,930. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,407,540 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,633,554,000 after purchasing an additional 144,038 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Nucor by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,853,205 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $628,497,000 after buying an additional 41,728 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $609,002,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,539,044 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $429,298,000 after buying an additional 22,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,103,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $342,642,000 after buying an additional 210,577 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Company Profile

Nucor Corporation NYSE: NUE is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor's operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.

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