Nucor (NYSE:NUE) PT Raised to $195.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price objective increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

NUE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup upgraded Nucor from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a buy rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $192.83.

Nucor Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NUE opened at $191.36 on Tuesday. Nucor has a 52-week low of $129.79 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The company has a market capitalization of $45.92 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.33. Nucor had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 13.03%. The business had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nucor will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.01%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total transaction of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total transaction of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 1st quarter valued at about $325,000. Retirement Guys Formula LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 6,381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,336,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

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.