Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating restated by analysts at Morgan Stanley in a note issued to investors on Sunday, Analyst Ratings.Net reports. They presently have a $59.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $62.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 66.86% from the stock’s current price.

Shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE) traded up 1.00% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.36. The stock had a trading volume of 2,835,952 shares. Nucor has a 12 month low of $33.90 and a 12 month high of $50.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.65 and its 200 day moving average is $41.39. The company has a market cap of $11.30 billion and a PE ratio of 18.10.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 31st will be given a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 29th. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Nucor from $54.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Nomura upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Monday, December 14th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank upgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Other hedge funds have bought and sold shares of the company. MUFG Americas boosted its stake in Nucor by 21.9% in the third quarter. MUFG Americas now owns 1,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning boosted its stake in Nucor by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning now owns 13,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 3,838 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings boosted its stake in Nucor by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings now owns 263,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,618,000 after buying an additional 6,985 shares during the last quarter. TNB Financial acquired a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth $298,000. Finally, Lau Associates boosted its stake in Nucor by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Lau Associates now owns 26,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 7,600 shares during the last quarter.

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) manufactures steel and steel products. The Company also produces direct reduced iron (DRI) for use in the Company’s steel mills. It also processes ferrous and nonferrous metals and brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron, hot briquetted iron (HBI) and DRI. Nucor operates in three segments: steel mills, steel products and raw materials. In the steel mills segment, Nucor produces and distributes sheet steel, plate steel, structural steel and bar steel. In the steel products segment, Nucor produces steel joists and joist girders, steel deck, fabricated concrete reinforcing steel, cold finished steel, steel fasteners, metal building systems, steel grating and expanded metal, and wire and wire mesh. In the raw materials segment, the Company produces DRI; brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron, HBI and DRI; supplies ferro-alloys, and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:NUE

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