Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Price Target Lowered to $125.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $150.00 to $125.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 8.27% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on NUE. Citigroup cut their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.63.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE opened at $115.45 on Monday. Nucor has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $139.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.84. The firm has a market cap of $27.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Nucor will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,499,436. The trade was a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Nucor by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in Nucor by 3.2% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 652,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $98,097,000 after acquiring an additional 20,258 shares in the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Nucor during the third quarter worth approximately $681,000. Ascension Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the second quarter valued at approximately $885,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $883,732,000 after purchasing an additional 74,569 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.