Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Given New $190.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price objective cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $195.00 to $190.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on NUE. UBS Group began coverage on Nucor in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a buy rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Nucor from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Nucor from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $193.14.

Nucor Price Performance

Nucor stock opened at $175.36 on Wednesday. Nucor has a 52 week low of $129.79 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 4.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $42.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). Nucor had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 12.40%. The business had revenue of $8.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.45 earnings per share. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Nucor will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.71%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total transaction of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total value of $1,025,035.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 120,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,351,936.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 310.9% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor in the third quarter worth $212,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Nucor by 56.3% during the third quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 14,120 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 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.