Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Stock Rating Upgraded by UBS Group

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $160.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $156.00. UBS Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 31.13% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.78.

Nucor Stock Down 5.8 %

Shares of NUE opened at $122.02 on Monday. Nucor has a 52 week low of $112.25 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $130.65 and a 200-day moving average of $137.72.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NUE. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,967,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $701,255,000 after buying an additional 105,309 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $398,077,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,435,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $284,220,000 after buying an additional 384,205 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,404,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $280,627,000 after buying an additional 474,274 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is 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.