Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Now Covered by The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE) in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $190.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Argus raised shares of 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, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.50.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $149.31 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $35.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor has a 12 month low of $133.42 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.99.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.57 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.87%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Widmann Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Nucor by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Nucor by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Nucor by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.