Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $247.50.

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Nucor from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Nucor from $196.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Nucor from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $251.30 on Thursday. Nucor has a fifty-two week low of $115.35 and a fifty-two week high of $252.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $57.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.88.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.41. Nucor had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The business had revenue of $9.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Nucor will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

Nucor declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to repurchase up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,096 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.08, for a total transaction of $2,282,503.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 62,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,213,875.68. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 4,554 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.86, for a total value of $1,028,566.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,834 shares in the company, valued at $3,802,127.24. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 71,818 shares of company stock valued at $16,234,593 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $899,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.