Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Nucor from a "hold" to a "buy"; the stock carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a mean price target of $238 (eight buys vs. four holds).
• Q1 results beat expectations — EPS $3.23 vs. $2.82 expected and revenue $9.50B vs. $8.88B (revenue +21.3% YoY) — and the board authorized a $4.00 billion share repurchase (~9.7% of shares).
• Insider selling has occurred: executives sold a combined 22,520 shares (~$4.25M) over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own about 76.48% of the stock.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

NUE has been the topic of several other research reports. Seaport Research Partners reissued a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Nucor from $180.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Nucor from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on Nucor from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Nucor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $224.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $238.00.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $225.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.90. The business's 50 day moving average price is $180.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.78. Nucor has a fifty-two week low of $106.21 and a fifty-two week high of $227.96.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $9.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.88 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 6.82%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Nucor will post 13.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to repurchase up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 7,568 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.50, for a total value of $1,426,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 67,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,763,523.50. This trade represents a 10.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 7,452 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.02, for a total value of $1,460,741.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 76,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,020,620.56. This trade represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $4,245,334 over the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 21.1% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Nucor in the first quarter valued at about $259,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Nucor by 81.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor in the second quarter valued at about $390,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 51.9% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 40,629 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,263,000 after buying an additional 13,877 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nucor

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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