Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $183.32 and last traded at $177.61, with a volume of 2559666 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $181.65.

Key Stories Impacting Nucor

Here are the key news stories impacting Nucor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $184 and kept an “overweight” rating, implying additional upside from current levels. Wells Fargo Raises Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: TV personality Jim Cramer said he prefers Nucor to Cleveland‑Cliffs, a public endorsement that can support investor sentiment and retail flows. Jim Cramer Says He Is “Not Going to Recommend Cleveland‑Cliffs Over Nucor”
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s Q4 earnings call emphasized heavy, strategic investing for future growth (capacity, technology and downstream capabilities), signaling confidence in longer‑term margin expansion even if near‑term results are pressured. Nucor Earnings Call: Investing Heavily for Future Upside
• Positive Sentiment: Insider/institional activity: Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants added a new stake, consistent with other recent institutional buys — small but supportive. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants Buys Nucor Shares
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 revenue beat expectations and management guided to Q1 earnings growth, which partially offsets the EPS miss and supports the view of recovering demand. Nucor’s Q4 Earnings: Revenues Beat, Volumes Lower
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks highlights Nucor as both a momentum and value name based on style scores — useful framing for different investor types but not new fundamental news. Zacks: Nucor a Top Momentum Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley kept a Hold rating and $180 target, reflecting a balanced view: upside from recovery but near‑term margin/volume risk. Analyst Maintains Hold on Nucor
• Negative Sentiment: EPS missed (Q4 EPS $1.73 vs. ~$1.91 est.) as lower steel volumes and rising costs compressed margins; that miss is the primary reason shares have slid. Nucor Misses Q4 Estimates; Shares Fall
• Negative Sentiment: MarketWatch flagged that Nucor underperformed peers on the day, suggesting sector rotation or relative weakness that can pressure the stock until volumes and margins reaccelerate. Nucor Underperforms Competitors

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Nucor from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Nucor from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.36.

Nucor Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $165.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.16. The firm has a market cap of $39.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

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

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.56 dividend. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 5,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.89, for a total transaction of $939,445.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,711 shares in the company, valued at $10,690,889.79. This represents a 8.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.28, for a total value of $330,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,967,106.56. The trade was a 10.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,950 shares of company stock worth $2,319,166. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Nucor by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,171,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,778,820,000 after acquiring an additional 211,741 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Nucor by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,501,779 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,626,321,000 after purchasing an additional 371,911 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in Nucor during the second quarter worth about $856,792,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nucor during the second quarter worth approximately $479,858,000. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in Nucor by 20.1% in 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 buying an additional 509,019 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Nucor

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.