BMO Capital Markets Trims Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Target Price to $160.00

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its target price cut by BMO Capital Markets from $175.00 to $160.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on NUE. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $176.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America dropped their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Nucor from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and upped their target price for the company from $170.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $192.00.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE stock opened at $146.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $149.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.15. Nucor has a fifty-two week low of $133.42 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.08 billion, a PE ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.37. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The firm had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.81 EPS. Nucor’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Nucor will post 9.95 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.71%.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Nucor by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,909,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $617,915,000 after purchasing an additional 84,558 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,884,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $456,030,000 after buying an additional 660,866 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,160,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $341,580,000 after buying an additional 67,974 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,367,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $237,949,000 after buying an additional 85,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,165,094 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $230,572,000 after buying an additional 70,917 shares during the last quarter. 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.