Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Stock analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE – Get Rating) in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on NUE. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $172.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $144.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $113.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Six equities 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.44.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE traded down $1.30 during trading on Thursday, reaching $144.12. 5,407,723 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,928,828. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.31 billion, a PE ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 1.59. Nucor has a 52-week low of $100.13 and a 52-week high of $187.90.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The basic materials company reported $4.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $8.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.54 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 18.33% and a return on equity of 42.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.97 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 1,962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.99, for a total value of $349,216.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,195,822.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.36, for a total value of $841,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,293,025.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 1,962 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.99, for a total transaction of $349,216.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,195,822.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,575 shares of company stock valued at $2,034,130. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 127,059.1% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,232,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,461,138,000 after buying an additional 155,109,984 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 12.5% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,935,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $828,592,000 after purchasing an additional 878,821 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,235,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $690,181,000 after purchasing an additional 21,579 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,247,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $559,880,000 after purchasing an additional 979,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 11.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,738,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $258,471,000 after purchasing an additional 176,738 shares during the last quarter. 78.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nucor

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Nucor Corp. engages in the manufacturing of steel and steel products. It operates through the following segments: Steel Mills, Steel Products, and Raw Materials. The Steel Mills segment consists of carbon and alloy steel in sheet, bars, structural and plate, steel trading businesses, rebar distribution businesses, and Nucor’s equity method investments.