Brokerages Set Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) PT at $240.00

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $243.80.

Several research firms have commented on NUE. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Nucor from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group downgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $190.00 to $224.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Nucor from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 7,452 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.02, for a total value of $1,460,741.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 76,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,020,620.56. This represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David A. Sumoski sold 33,068 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.67, for a total value of $7,462,455.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 243,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,914,312.13. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,880 shares of company stock worth $13,301,793. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,407,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,633,554,000 after buying an additional 144,038 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Nucor by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,853,205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $628,497,000 after purchasing an additional 41,728 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $609,002,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Nucor by 20.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,042,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $412,081,000 after purchasing an additional 509,019 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Nucor by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,103,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $342,642,000 after purchasing an additional 210,577 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Price Performance

Nucor stock opened at $232.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $52.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.87. Nucor has a 12 month low of $106.21 and a 12 month high of $233.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $181.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.89.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.88 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 6.82%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Nucor will post 13.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.18%.

Nucor announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Headlines Impacting Nucor

Here are the key news stories impacting Nucor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher targets — BNP Paribas Exane raised its price target to $248 and kept an “outperform” rating; other firms (Citigroup, Jefferies, Seaport) have also lifted targets recently, supporting upside expectations.
• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings push — Nucor beat Q1 estimates (EPS $3.23 vs. $2.82 expected) and reported revenue growth of ~21% YoY, which underpins analyst upgrades and higher valuations.
• Positive Sentiment: Buybacks and dividend support — board authorized a $4.0B share?repurchase program and the company pays a dividend (annualized $2.24), both of which are shareholder?friendly capital allocation moves that can lift the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional ownership & fundamentals — ~76% institutional ownership, modest leverage (D/E ~0.30) and solid liquidity ratios; these factors reduce headline volatility but limit surprise flows.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — EVP David A. Sumoski sold 33,068 shares at about $225.67 on Apr 30, reducing his position by ~12%. Form 4 — Sumoski
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 12,888 shares at about $226.00 on May 1, trimming his stake by ~12.6%. Form 4 — Needham
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — EVP Noah C. Hanners sold 6,472 shares at about $226.50 on May 1, an ~11.4% ownership reduction for him. Form 4 — Hanners

Nucor Company Profile

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.