Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Price Target Raised to $195.00

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $180.00 to $195.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the basic materials company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target points to a potential upside of 1.50% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $192.83.

Nucor Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Nucor stock traded down $1.89 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $192.12. 1,142,948 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,383,065. The stock has a market cap of $46.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 1.61. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $190.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.81. Nucor has a 12-month low of $129.79 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.64 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 13.03% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.89 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Nucor will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,153.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Nucor news, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,738 shares in the company, valued at $23,351,936.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,153.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 127,059.1% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,232,061 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $20,461,138,000 after buying an additional 155,109,984 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 0.4% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,438,353 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $841,209,000 after buying an additional 23,366 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Nucor by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,247,626 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $559,880,000 after buying an additional 979,824 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Nucor by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,175,571 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $652,851,000 after buying an additional 149,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 7.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,262,832 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $353,794,000 after buying an additional 159,230 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.