BMO Capital Markets Upgrades Nucor (NYSE:NUE) to "Outperform"

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $145.00 price target on the basic materials company's stock, up from their prior price target of $140.00.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $157.22.

Nucor Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:NUE traded down $1.90 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $119.96. 1,109,977 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,179,740. Nucor has a one year low of $97.59 and a one year high of $170.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $113.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.21. The company has a market cap of $27.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nucor will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total value of $4,115,065.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,590,128.67. The trade was a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in Nucor by 528.6% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 507,715 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $59,235,000 after purchasing an additional 426,949 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 8,455 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $987,000 after purchasing an additional 2,327 shares during the period. Grace & White Inc. NY boosted its position in Nucor by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 122,339 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $14,278,000 after purchasing an additional 13,100 shares during the period. Howard Bailey Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at about $842,000. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,100,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.