Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Nucor from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Nucor from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.86.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock opened at $257.57 on Tuesday. Nucor has a one year low of $135.59 and a one year high of $280.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $252.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.84. 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 (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $4.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $10.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.15 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Nucor will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, EVP Thomas Batterbee sold 4,000 shares of Nucor 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,138 shares in the company, valued at $4,212,340.76. The trade was a 19.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Stephen Laxton sold 3,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 77,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,008,704.32. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation is a steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company manufactures steel and steel products for customers in construction, automotive, energy, heavy equipment, transportation and other industrial markets.

Nucor’s operations include electric arc furnace steel mills, which produce carbon, alloy and galvanized steel products. Its product portfolio includes sheet steel, plate, beams, bars, wire and wire mesh, steel joists, deck, piling, fabricated concrete reinforcing steel and other downstream products.