Analysts Set Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Price Target at $165.63

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $165.63.

NUE has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 in the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 45.6% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Nucor by 60.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Stock Up 0.3 %

NUE stock traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $123.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,189,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,296,454. The company has a market capitalization of $29.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $134.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Nucor has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.57 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nucor will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This is a boost from Nucor's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.26%.

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.