JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Target Price to $190.00

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price objective dropped by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $195.00 to $190.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 8.03% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Nucor in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.14.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock opened at $175.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 4.02. Nucor has a 1 year low of $129.79 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The firm has a market cap of $42.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.19.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Nucor will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total value of $1,901,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,386,751.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total value of $1,901,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,386,751.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,351,936.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,151 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,683. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $377,631,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $108,747,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $90,216,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Nucor by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,070,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $360,430,000 after acquiring an additional 237,752 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Nucor by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,262,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,794,000 after acquiring an additional 159,230 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.