Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Stock Rating Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on NUE. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Nucor from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Nucor from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $274.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $272.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Nucor from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Nucor from $294.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.07.

Nucor Stock Down 0.2%

NUE opened at $247.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $256.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.31. Nucor has a 12 month low of $131.32 and a 12 month high of $280.11.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $4.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.38. Nucor had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The company had revenue of $10.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Nucor will post 18.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 17.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.02, for a total transaction of $1,044,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,138 shares in the company, valued at $4,212,340.76. The trade was a 19.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Stephen D. Laxton sold 3,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.96, for a total value of $1,019,617.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,008,704.32. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 7.6% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden grew its holdings in Nucor by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 56,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,515,000 after purchasing an additional 15,833 shares in the last quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA grew its holdings in Nucor by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA now owns 14,393 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,206,000 after purchasing an additional 2,090 shares in the last quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the 2nd quarter worth $200,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Nucor by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 61,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,800,000 after buying an additional 14,736 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Company Profile

Nucor Corporation is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based steel and steel products company. It manufactures carbon, alloy and stainless steel products, including sheet, plate, bar, structural steel, rail, wire rod, rebar and merchant bar. The company also produces steel joists, deck, beams, piling, wire products, fasteners, grating, metal building systems and other fabricated steel products.

Nucor operates an integrated network of electric arc furnace steel mills, recycling facilities and downstream manufacturing operations.