Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $190.57.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Nucor to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,325 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,847,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Nucor by 50.0% during the first quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 300 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 11.7% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,308 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harvest Investment Services purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at $4,336,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE NUE traded down $3.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $144.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,144,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,500,780. The firm's 50 day moving average is $147.80 and its 200 day moving average is $157.61. The company has a market capitalization of $34.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 1.55. 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 $133.42 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.57 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 8.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.87%.

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.