Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $238.66 and last traded at $238.00, with a volume of 208963 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $232.00.

Nucor News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Nucor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its earnings estimates for Nucor across FY2026, FY2027, FY2028 and multiple quarterly periods, signaling expectations for stronger profitability ahead.
• Positive Sentiment: The company recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $3.23 versus $2.82 expected and revenue of $9.50 billion versus $8.88 billion estimated, which supports the stock’s positive momentum.
• Positive Sentiment: Nucor now has a consensus analyst recommendation of “Moderate Buy,” suggesting Wall Street remains favorable on the name. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage from Zacks and Yahoo Finance focused on why Nucor has gained since its last earnings report, with the market appearing to price in better forward earnings rather than reacting to a single new catalyst. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Nucor from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $224.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.50.

Nucor Stock Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $56.82 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.79.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to repurchase up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 12,888 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.00, for a total value of $2,912,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 89,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,277,624. This trade represents a 12.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David A. Sumoski sold 33,068 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.67, for a total transaction of $7,462,455.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 243,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,914,312.13. This trade represents a 11.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 71,818 shares of company stock valued at $16,234,593 in the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RKL Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $899,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.