JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Price Target to $152.00

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price target dropped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $168.00 to $152.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 22.19% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.63.

Nucor Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:NUE opened at $124.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. The firm has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Nucor will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 8,530.1% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,819,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576,695 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Nucor by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,884,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $456,030,000 after purchasing an additional 660,866 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $74,829,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Nucor by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Nucor by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.