Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $143.00 to $162.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.84% from the stock’s previous close.

NUE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Nucor from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $152.75.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $138.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $31.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.63. Nucor has a fifty-two week low of $97.59 and a fifty-two week high of $170.52.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 6.82%. The company had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Nucor will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total value of $906,342.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 99,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,707,592.73. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total transaction of $1,303,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. This trade represents a 9.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,326 shares of company stock worth $6,325,108. 0.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Matrix Trust Co raised its stake in Nucor by 53.8% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 240 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 73.5% during the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Nucor by 81.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

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.