Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Nucor Corporation's stock gapped up significantly, opening at $151.00 after closing at $144.35, and last traded at $146.29 with a trading volume of 502,172 shares.
• Analysts are optimistic about Nucor's prospects, with Jefferies upgrading the stock to a "buy" and raising the target price to $170.00, while the average target price across multiple analysts is currently $155.78.
• Nucor announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, reflecting a 1.5% yield, with a payout ratio of 39.71% and recent earnings exceeding estimates, reporting $2.60 EPS against a consensus of $2.54.

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $144.35, but opened at $151.00. Nucor shares last traded at $146.29, with a volume of 502,172 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $155.78.

Nucor Trading Up 0.9%

The firm has a market cap of $33.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm's fifty day moving average is $136.64 and its 200-day moving average is $127.15.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total transaction of $906,342.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,707,592.73. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total transaction of $1,303,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at $12,265,209.60. This represents a 9.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,109 shares of company stock worth $3,360,094. Company insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,763 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 528.6% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 507,715 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $59,235,000 after acquiring an additional 426,949 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 101,459 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $12,210,000 after acquiring an additional 17,861 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 28,886 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,476,000 after acquiring an additional 4,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 305,006 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,704,000 after acquiring an additional 33,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.