Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Shares Gap Down to $142.96

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $142.96, but opened at $139.45. Nucor shares last traded at $144.12, with a volume of 317,033 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $170.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Nucor from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $187.00 to $176.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $195.00.

Nucor Stock Down 0.3 %

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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $150.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.06. The company has a market cap of $34.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.71%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $1,379,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,840. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Nucor by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,909,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $617,915,000 after purchasing an additional 84,558 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Nucor by 29.7% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,884,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $456,030,000 after purchasing an additional 660,866 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $377,631,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position 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 valued at $341,580,000 after buying an additional 67,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Nucor by 6.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 85,475 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.