Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen raised Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Nucor from $210.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Nucor from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Nucor from $196.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.50.

Nucor Trading Up 2.5%

NUE opened at $231.99 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $52.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.90. Nucor has a one year low of $106.21 and a one year high of $235.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.57.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.88 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 6.82%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nucor will post 14.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to buy up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, EVP Randy J. Spicer sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $562,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,510 shares in the company, valued at $4,614,750. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 4,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.86, for a total value of $1,028,566.44. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,834 shares in the company, valued at $3,802,127.24. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 71,818 shares of company stock valued at $16,234,593 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 0.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 144,038 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,853,205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $628,497,000 after purchasing an additional 41,728 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $609,002,000. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 20.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,042,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $412,081,000 after purchasing an additional 509,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,539,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $429,298,000 after purchasing an additional 22,718 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.