Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Price Target Cut to $190.00

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price objective lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $195.00 to $190.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Nucor from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a buy rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Nucor from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $193.14.

Nucor Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $175.42 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $190.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.61. Nucor has a 12-month low of $129.79 and a 12-month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $8.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total value of $1,025,035.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total value of $1,025,035.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,153.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 310.9% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares in the last quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 56.3% during the third quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 0.7% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 14,120 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.