Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Receives $163.13 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $163.13.

NUE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 5.8% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 48,348 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Nucor by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,849 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Nucor by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,090 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Cypress Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth about $255,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

Nucor stock opened at $130.18 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $126.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Nucor has a 52 week low of $112.25 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.16%.

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.