Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on NUE. Morgan Stanley set a $270.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. KeyCorp raised shares of Nucor from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $274.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Nucor from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Nucor from $272.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.93.

Nucor Trading Up 4.6%

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $251.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Nucor has a one year low of $131.32 and a one year high of $280.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $256.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.84.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $4.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $10.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.15 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 7.99%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Nucor will post 18.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,212,340.76. This represents a 19.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Stephen D. Laxton sold 3,968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.96, for a total value of $1,019,617.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,008,704.32. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NUE. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Nucor by 19.3% during the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 510,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $86,297,000 after acquiring an additional 82,668 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 61,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,800,000 after purchasing an additional 14,736 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,954,000. BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 2nd quarter worth about $852,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,809,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $306,054,000 after purchasing an additional 29,476 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based steel producer and one of the largest steel companies in North America. The company operates electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mills that use recycled scrap steel as a primary raw material, along with facilities that manufacture and process steel products for construction, manufacturing, transportation, energy and other industrial markets.

Nucor’s product portfolio includes carbon and alloy steel in sheet, plate, bar and structural forms, as well as reinforcing steel, wire and wire mesh.