Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $189.67.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NUE shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NUE. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth $234,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in Nucor by 3.6% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 88,833 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,889,000 after purchasing an additional 3,080 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 11,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth about $5,217,000. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 124,185 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,416,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NUE opened at $154.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $168.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.06. Nucor has a 1-year low of $140.07 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The company has a current ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $8.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 10.89 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.71%.

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.