Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Nucor Corporation has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from nine brokerages, with one hold and eight buy recommendations, and an average price target of $156.20.
• Insider selling took place, with EVP Kenneth Rex Query selling 10,000 shares at an average price of $144.90 and EVP Allen C. Behr selling 8,021 shares at an average price of $143.38, reflecting a decrease in their positions.
• Nucor recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, representing an annualized payout of $2.20 and a dividend yield of 1.7%.

Shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $156.20.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th.

Nucor Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE NUE traded down $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $133.03. 4,862,886 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,419,934. The company has a market capitalization of $30.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.76. Nucor has a 52-week low of $97.59 and a 52-week high of $170.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $142.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 4.21% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Nucor will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Nucor's payout ratio is 39.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total transaction of $1,150,050.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 82,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,857,956.14. The trade was a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total transaction of $903,520.08. Following the sale, the insider owned 22,464 shares in the company, valued at $3,333,882.24. This represents a 21.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 48,397 shares of company stock valued at $6,763,814. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 75.9% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,539 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 2,822 shares during the period. L1 Capital Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the second quarter valued at approximately $658,000. V. M. Manning & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,025,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 206.8% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,983 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 4,033 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 16.8% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 946,303 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $122,597,000 after purchasing an additional 135,870 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Company Profile

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.