Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Price Target Lowered to $125.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) had its target price lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $150.00 to $125.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the basic materials company's stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on NUE. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $165.63.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NUE stock traded up $5.13 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $120.58. 3,498,594 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,321,161. Nucor has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The stock's fifty day moving average is $139.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.84. The company has a market cap of $28.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion for 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.57 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This is an increase from Nucor's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is 21.26%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value 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 $13,636,254.72. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 8,530.1% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $239,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,695 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,884,802 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $456,030,000 after buying an additional 660,866 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,829,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $205,282,000 after acquiring an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Nucor by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.