Nucor's (NUE) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at UBS Group

UBS Group reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $156.00 price target on the basic materials company's stock, down from their previous price target of $171.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on NUE. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. reduced their price target 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 lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Argus raised Nucor to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $183.75.

Nucor Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE NUE traded down $7.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $131.41. 2,694,803 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,571,258. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. Nucor has a 12-month low of $130.65 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $150.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. Nucor's revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nucor will post 8.5 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. This is a boost from Nucor's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.87%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at $14,499,436. The trade was a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the firm's 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 owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nucor by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $883,732,000 after acquiring an additional 74,569 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Nucor by 2.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,909,388 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $617,915,000 after purchasing an additional 84,558 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 19.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $519,648,000 after purchasing an additional 571,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Nucor by 3.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,160,803 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $341,580,000 after purchasing an additional 67,974 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

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.