Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $190.30.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NUE shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $184.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. KeyCorp started coverage on Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Seaport Research Partners raised their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 3,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $690,818.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 88,298 shares in the company, valued at $15,717,044. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 7,452 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.02, for a total value of $1,460,741.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 76,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,020,620.56. The trade was a 8.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 26,401 shares of company stock worth $4,936,152 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Stance Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NUE stock opened at $173.11 on Wednesday. Nucor has a 52-week low of $101.55 and a 52-week high of $196.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.26.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.18). Nucor had a return on equity of 8.26% and a net margin of 5.37%.The business had revenue of $7.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Nucor will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.71%.

Nucor declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.