KeyCorp Has Lowered Expectations for Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Stock Price

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its price target cut by equities researchers at KeyCorp from $288.00 to $286.00 in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. KeyCorp’s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.89% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Nucor from $285.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Nucor from $224.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Freedom Broker lowered Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $305.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.93.

Nucor Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $251.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.51. Nucor has a 52-week low of $131.32 and a 52-week high of $280.11. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $255.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.84.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $4.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $10.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.15 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 12.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Nucor will post 18.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other Nucor news, COO Stephen D. Laxton sold 3,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.96, for a total transaction of $1,019,617.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,008,704.32. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.02, for a total value of $1,044,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,212,340.76. This represents a 19.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nucor during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Markowski Investments bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based steel producer and one of the largest steel companies in North America. The company operates electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mills that use recycled scrap steel as a primary raw material, along with facilities that manufacture and process steel products for construction, manufacturing, transportation, energy and other industrial markets.

Nucor’s product portfolio includes carbon and alloy steel in sheet, plate, bar and structural forms, as well as reinforcing steel, wire and wire mesh.