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

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

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on NUE. Citigroup upgraded shares of 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 research report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a buy rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Nucor from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $193.14.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE opened at $172.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 4.02 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $191.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.17. Nucor has a 1 year low of $129.79 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The stock has a market cap of $41.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The firm had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,151 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,683. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its holdings in Nucor by 208.0% in the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 54.1% in the first quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Nucor by 716.7% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

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.