Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $164.44.

Several research firms recently weighed in on NUE. Citigroup dropped their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Nucor by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 19,985 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,005,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $695,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 8,017 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,567 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 5.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,478,917 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $222,340,000 after purchasing an additional 80,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 9.9% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Nucor Stock Performance

Nucor stock traded up $3.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $123.29. 2,117,697 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,983,738. Nucor has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The stock has a market cap of $28.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Nucor will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor's payout ratio is 26.16%.

Nucor Company Profile

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.