Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after BofA raised their price target on the stock from $265.00 to $290.00. The stock traded as high as $267.83 and last traded at $267.4070, with a volume of 54576 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $260.90.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on NUE. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Nucor from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Nucor from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Seaport Research Partners upped their price objective on Nucor from $245.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $261.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP John J. Hollatz sold 10,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.46, for a total value of $2,729,337.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 97,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,294,187.90. The trade was a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 4,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.86, for a total transaction of $1,028,566.44. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,834 shares in the company, valued at $3,802,127.24. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 82,378 shares of company stock valued at $18,963,930. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LFG Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. LFG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147 shares during the period. DV Trading LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 993.8% in the 1st quarter. DV Trading LLC now owns 1,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. First Nebraska Trust Co purchased a new position in Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at about $13,789,000. Finally, Pathway Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the first quarter valued at about $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $60.75 billion, a PE ratio of 26.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.90 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $220.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.13.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.88 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.68%. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.18%.

Nucor declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to buy up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.