Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Price Target Raised to $196.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price target increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $182.00 to $196.00 in a report published on Friday morning,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $176.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.27.

Nucor Trading Down 0.2%

Nucor stock traded down $0.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $174.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,737,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,434,922. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $160.47 and its 200 day moving average is $148.09. Nucor has a 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $175.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.77.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.33. Nucor had a net margin of 5.18% and a return on equity of 7.80%. The company had revenue of $8.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Nucor has set its Q4 2025 guidance at -2.630 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nucor will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $0.56 dividend. 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. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.46%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 5,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.89, for a total value of $939,445.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,690,889.79. The trade was a 8.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.28, for a total transaction of $330,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,967,106.56. This trade represents a 10.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 25,995 shares of company stock worth $3,990,634 over the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Values Added Financial LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $208,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $1,989,000. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $98,000. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

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.