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

Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE – Get Rating) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $119.33.

NUE has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Nucor from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on Nucor in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Nucor from $113.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 24th. Wolfe Research cut Nucor from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Nucor from $107.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 31st.

NUE opened at $170.33 on Tuesday. Nucor has a one year low of $75.60 and a one year high of $172.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a PE ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $138.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $7.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.90 by $0.07. Nucor had a return on equity of 51.41% and a net margin of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 97.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nucor will post 20.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 30th. Nucor’s payout ratio is 8.55%.

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 3,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.40, for a total transaction of $432,207.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 16,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total value of $2,459,816.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,639 shares of company stock worth $4,096,302. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 401.8% during the fourth quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 104,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,906,000 after buying an additional 83,514 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 3,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. GWM Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nucor by 21.3% in the third quarter. GWM Advisors LLC now owns 13,671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in Nucor by 157.1% in the fourth quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Nucor by 572.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 16,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,884,000 after purchasing an additional 14,050 shares during the period. 73.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nucor (Get Rating)

Nucor Corporation manufactures and sells steel and steel products. The company's 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 products; and bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and special bar quality products.

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