Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Price Target to $285.00

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $297.00 to $285.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on NUE. KeyCorp raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Nucor from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Nucor from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, CICC Research began coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, May 25th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $272.38.

Nucor Trading Up 2.1%

NUE opened at $252.69 on Monday. Nucor has a 1-year low of $131.32 and a 1-year high of $280.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $57.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $246.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $218.33.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $4.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.46 by $0.38. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Nucor will post 17.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 17.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John J. Hollatz sold 10,560 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.46, for a total value of $2,729,337.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 97,865 shares in the company, valued at $25,294,187.90. This trade represents a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 4,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.02, for a total value of $1,044,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,212,340.76. The trade was a 19.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 18,528 shares of company stock worth $4,793,035 over the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Stance Capital LLC bought a new stake in Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.