Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Sets New 52-Week Low at $139.41

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $139.41 and last traded at $139.41, with a volume of 266849 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $142.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.29.

Nucor Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $156.12 and its 200-day moving average is $174.04. The company has a market capitalization of $33.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.40 and a beta of 1.57.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.81 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 10.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $1,379,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,840. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 52.8% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 17,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after acquiring an additional 5,960 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 94.2% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 262,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,665,000 after acquiring an additional 15,058 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,847,000. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 86.2% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 12,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,552,000 after acquiring an additional 5,971 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

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.