Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Nucor Corporation has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from ten brokerages, with two holding and eight buying recommendations.
• Analysts have adjusted their price targets, with JPMorgan raising it to $172, while Goldman Sachs decreased their target to $173, indicating varying outlooks on the company's stock performance.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 1.6% and a payout ratio of 39.71%.

Shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $157.60.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Nucor from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Nucor from $182.00 to $173.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total transaction of $903,520.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 22,464 shares in the company, valued at $3,333,882.24. This represents a 21.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.90, for a total value of $1,449,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 84,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,183,192. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,309 shares of company stock valued at $4,553,771. 0.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Nucor by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 31,595 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,853,000 after purchasing an additional 4,763 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 101,459 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $12,210,000 after acquiring an additional 17,861 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 138.5% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 121,543 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $15,745,000 after acquiring an additional 70,581 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 305,006 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,704,000 after acquiring an additional 33,700 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 48.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,203 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock opened at $138.45 on Wednesday. Nucor has a one year low of $97.59 and a one year high of $170.52. The company's fifty day moving average price is $141.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.83. The company has a market capitalization of $31.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.75.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.46 billion for 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%. Nucor's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.71%.

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.

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