Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

NUE has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Nucor from $184.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Seaport Research Partners raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Nucor from $182.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Nucor from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $183.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.90.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $168.58 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Nucor has a 52-week low of $97.59 and a 52-week high of $196.90.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.18). Nucor had a net margin of 5.37% and a return on equity of 8.26%. The company had revenue of $7.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.71%.

Nucor declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to reacquire up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 7,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.50, for a total transaction of $1,426,568.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 67,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,763,523.50. The trade was a 10.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.28, for a total transaction of $330,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,967,106.56. This represents a 10.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 34,351 shares of company stock worth $6,206,158 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NUE. Stance Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the third quarter worth $25,000. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Nucor by 51.4% during the second quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

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.