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

UBS Group reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE) in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. UBS Group currently has a $156.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $171.00.

NUE has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Argus raised Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.75.

Nucor Trading Down 4.7 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $125.25 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $29.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $149.13 and its 200-day moving average is $151.40. Nucor has a 52-week low of $125.00 and a 52-week high of $203.00. 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 (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Nucor will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 21.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Nucor by 2.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in Nucor by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 652,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $98,097,000 after purchasing an additional 20,258 shares during the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC bought a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $681,000. Ascension Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Nucor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $885,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Nucor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,655,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

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.