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

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $166.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Argus raised Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Nucor from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America reduced 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.57.

Nucor Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:NUE opened at $141.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.59. The company has a market cap of $33.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor has a 52-week low of $133.42 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.27.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.57 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nucor will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 20.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,840. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in Nucor by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $516,000. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP lifted its holdings in Nucor by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 158,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,759,000 after purchasing an additional 36,496 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its holdings in Nucor by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 2,797 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Folios Inc lifted its holdings in Nucor by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 43,689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,568,000 after purchasing an additional 3,346 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.