Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Price Target Cut to $170.00

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its target price reduced by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $170.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.57% from the stock’s current price.

NUE has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Argus raised Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Three research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $194.14.

Nucor Stock Performance

Nucor stock opened at $142.18 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $150.36 and a 200-day moving average of $166.72. Nucor has a 1 year low of $133.42 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $34.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,840. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Nucor by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,909,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $617,915,000 after purchasing an additional 84,558 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Nucor by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,884,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $456,030,000 after purchasing an additional 660,866 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Nucor by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,160,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $341,580,000 after purchasing an additional 67,974 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 85,475 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,165,094 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $230,572,000 after acquiring an additional 70,917 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

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.