Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $250.00 to $285.00 in a report released on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 9.76% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Argus boosted their target price on Nucor from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, May 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $251.67.

Nucor Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NUE stock traded up $1.19 on Wednesday, reaching $259.65. 262,866 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,619,268. Nucor has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $260.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $59.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.88. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $205.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.04.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.88 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 6.82%.The firm’s revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nucor will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to buy up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Noah C. Hanners sold 6,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total transaction of $1,465,908.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 50,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,410,390.50. The trade was a 11.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 4,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.86, for a total value of $1,028,566.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,802,127.24. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,818 shares of company stock valued at $16,234,593. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Nucor in the third quarter valued at $1,528,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 15,814.3% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Nucor by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,103,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $342,642,000 after acquiring an additional 210,577 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,989,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Nucor by 745.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 83,463 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,614,000 after acquiring an additional 73,588 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Company Profile

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.