Freedom Broker Reaffirms “Hold” Rating for Nucor (NYSE:NUE)

Nucor (NYSE:NUE)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Freedom Broker in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $285.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $305.00. Freedom Broker’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.92% from the company’s previous close.

NUE has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $285.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Nucor from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $294.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. KeyCorp raised shares of Nucor from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $274.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Nucor from $272.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.79.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE traded down $14.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $250.17. 915,576 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,566,434. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Nucor has a 1 year low of $131.32 and a 1 year high of $280.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $254.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $226.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.87.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $4.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.46 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $10.40 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Nucor will post 18.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.02, for a total transaction of $1,044,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,212,340.76. The trade was a 19.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Stephen D. Laxton sold 3,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $20,008,704.32. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nucor

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Talon Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the second quarter valued at about $200,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 31.2% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 61,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,800,000 after acquiring an additional 14,736 shares during the period. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 6.7% in the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its holdings in Nucor by 544.4% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 46,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,407,000 after buying an additional 39,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 7,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Nucor

Here are the key news stories impacting Nucor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Nucor expects third-quarter diluted EPS of $5.55 to $5.65, above adjusted EPS of $4.84 in the second quarter and $2.63 in the year-ago quarter. The outlook indicates continued earnings momentum, although it was below analysts’ consensus. Nucor Announces Guidance for the Third Quarter of 2026 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Nucor declared its 214th consecutive quarterly cash dividend, maintaining its regular payment of $0.56 per share. The announcement reinforces the company’s record of returning capital to shareholders, though the dividend was expected and is unlikely to be a major near-term catalyst. Nucor Announces 214th Consecutive Cash Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Some market commentary characterizes Nucor as a momentum stock with potential long-term upside, while a separate cash-flow analysis estimates the shares may be approximately 37% undervalued. These are valuation opinions rather than new company developments, and they conflict with the immediate earnings-guidance concern. Nucor Stock May Be 37% Undervalued on Cash Flow
• Negative Sentiment: The third-quarter EPS forecast of $5.55 to $5.65 is below the analyst consensus of $6.17. That earnings shortfall relative to expectations triggered after-hours weakness and is the most likely reason Nucor shares have decreased, despite projected growth from both prior periods. Nucor Sets Q3 EPS Forecast; Shares Decline After Hours

Nucor Company Profile

Nucor Corporation is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based steel and steel products company. It manufactures carbon, alloy and stainless steel products, including sheet, plate, bar, structural steel, rail, wire rod, rebar and merchant bar. The company also produces steel joists, deck, beams, piling, wire products, fasteners, grating, metal building systems and other fabricated steel products.

Nucor operates an integrated network of electric arc furnace steel mills, recycling facilities and downstream manufacturing operations.