Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on NUE. 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 objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.14.

Nucor Stock Down 1.1 %

NUE stock opened at $172.76 on Tuesday. Nucor has a 52-week low of $129.79 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total transaction of $3,772,655.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,351,936.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total transaction of $3,772,655.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,351,936.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total transaction of $1,901,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 80,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,386,751.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,151 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,683. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NUE. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at $377,631,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at $108,747,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 1st quarter valued at $90,216,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,070,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $360,430,000 after buying an additional 237,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,262,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,794,000 after buying an additional 159,230 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Company Profile

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.