Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Price Target Cut to $152.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price objective reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $168.00 to $152.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.63.

Nucor Stock Up 0.8 %

NUE opened at $124.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. Nucor has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $133.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.57.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Nucor will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,499,436. The trade was a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Widmann Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 4.0% during the third quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 5,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.