Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Price Target Lowered to $166.00 at Morgan Stanley

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price target decreased by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $166.00 in a research note issued to investors 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 14.09% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.86.

Nucor Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NUE stock opened at $145.50 on Wednesday. Nucor has a 1 year low of $133.42 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $147.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $159.52. 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 cap of $34.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nucor will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $1,379,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,049 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,840. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Nucor by 129.0% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 94.2% during the first quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.