Brokerages Set Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Price Target at $186.67

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $186.67.

Several research firms have recently commented on NUE. Citigroup raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total transaction of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total value of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NUE. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the first quarter worth $27,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 15,470.4% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 4,177 shares during the period. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Nucor by 208.0% during the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NUE opened at $194.00 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 3.57. Nucor has a 52 week low of $129.79 and a 52 week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $7.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 13.03% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nucor will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 12.01%.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. It operates in three segments: steel mills, steel products, and raw materials. The Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and sheet piling structural steel products; bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and engineered special bar quality products; and engages in the steel trading and rebar distribution businesses.