BMO Capital Markets Lowers Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Price Target to $200.00

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price objective cut by BMO Capital Markets from $210.00 to $200.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup upgraded 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. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a buy rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Nucor from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $193.14.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $175.36 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.61. Nucor has a 12 month low of $129.79 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 4.02 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). The firm 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 19.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nucor will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,351,936.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 120,738 shares in the company, valued at $23,351,936.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 19,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,009,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,481,000. AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 13,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,230,000. Finally, abrdn plc increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 154,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,932,000 after acquiring an additional 45,521 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.