Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Given New $160.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Citigroup from $240.00 to $160.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 37.91% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on NUE. Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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 objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.75.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE traded down $1.94 during trading on Thursday, reaching $116.02. 1,127,190 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,591,281. Nucor has a 12-month low of $115.29 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.42.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly 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. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.57 earnings per share. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Nucor by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $883,732,000 after purchasing an additional 74,569 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,909,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $617,915,000 after purchasing an additional 84,558 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 19.8% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Nucor by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,160,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $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.