Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Receives $164.44 Average Target Price from Analysts

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $164.44.

NUE has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus set a $155.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farmers Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 579.4% during the first quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 22,726 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,735,000 after purchasing an additional 19,381 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Nucor during the 1st quarter worth about $222,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Nucor by 188.1% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 7.0% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,228 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 251,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Down 6.1 %

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $103.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. Nucor has a 1 year low of $99.77 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nucor will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.16%.

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.