Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Raised to "Buy" at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group have upgraded Nucor from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, setting a price target of $170.00, which indicates an expected upside of 18.88% from its current stock price.
• Despite the upgrade from Jefferies, Nucor received a sell rating from Wall Street Zen and mixed adjustments to price targets from several other firms, with the current consensus rating being a "Moderate Buy" at a price target of $157.13.
• Nucor recently reported earnings of $2.60 per share, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $8.46 billion for the latest quarter, marking a 4.7% increase compared to the same period last year.

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $170.00 price target on the basic materials company's stock, up from their previous price target of $135.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded 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 report on Monday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $157.13.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE NUE traded down $4.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $138.67. 1,721,015 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,793,802. Nucor has a 12-month low of $97.59 and a 12-month high of $170.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $130.63 and a 200-day moving average of $125.73.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Nucor's payout ratio is 39.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total value of $1,303,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at $12,265,209.60. The trade was a 9.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $906,342.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Nucor by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,917,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Nucor by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 251,364 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,337,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in Nucor by 170.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 2,996 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Nucor by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,967,254 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $701,255,000 after buying an additional 105,309 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP lifted its position in Nucor by 125.9% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 67,952 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,931,000 after buying an additional 37,867 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

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.