Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Receives $165.63 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $165.63.

A number of research firms recently commented on NUE. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Widmann Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.0% in the third quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Nucor by 3.3% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in Nucor by 45.6% in the 3rd 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. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Nucor by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $822,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Nucor by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 5,250 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $789,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Trading Up 0.4 %

NUE opened at $118.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Nucor has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company's 50 day moving average price is $136.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. Nucor's quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.57 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Nucor will post 8.48 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 represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. This is a positive change from Nucor's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor's payout ratio is presently 21.26%.

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.