Posts for Ticker ‘NUE’

Top Analyst Upgrades (FWLT, GNW, ITRI, NUE, SPR, SNCR, STI, SYNA, USB, VIA)

These are this Thursday morning’s top analyst upgrades and positive research calls seen from Wall Street:

Foster Wheeler (FWLT) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Genworth (GNW) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Itron (ITRI) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
Nuecor (NUE) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc (SPR) Raised to Conviction Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Synchronoss Technologies (SNCR) Raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
SunTrust (STI) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Synaptics (SYNA) Started as Buy at Needham.
USBancorp (USB) Raised to Buy at Rochdale.
Viacom (VIA) Raised to Buy at UBS.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 17, 2009 – 8:13 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top Analyst Downgrades (CRDN, FSLR, NUE, RS, SINA, TLB)

These are some of the top pre-market analyst downgrades and cautious research calls we have seen early this Wednesday morning:

Ceradyne (CRDN) cut to Underperform at Wachovia; Cut to Accumulate at ThinkEquity.
First Solar (FSLR) Cut to Hold at Soleil.
Nucor (NUE) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
Reliance Steel (RS) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
Sina (SINA) Cut to Neutral at Pali.
Talbots (TLB) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: June 10, 2009 – 6:56 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (LFC, NUE, PLD, SLF, CCJ, SSCC)

Money_stack_picThese are the few upgrades and downgrades we have seen this shortened Wednesday.  As we are in the holidays, the analyst community has largely gone quiet until after the first of the year.

  • China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LFC) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
  • Nucor (NYSE: NUE) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank; Raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
  • Sun Life (NYSE: SLF) Raised to Outperform at CIBC.
  • Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
  • Smurfit-Stone (NASDAQ: SSCC) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Jon C. Ogg
December 24, 2008

Posted on: December 24, 2008 – 7:36 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , ,

Top Analyst Upgrades (BKC, CS, FNF, HES, IFX, NUE, OSG)

Money_stack_picThese are the top analyst upgrades we have seen this Monday morning ahead of the opening bell:

  • Burger King (BKC) Raised to Buy at UBS.
  • Credit Suisse (CS) Raised to Buy at Merrill Lynch.
  • Fidelity National (FNF) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
  • Hess (HES) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  • Infineon (IFX) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Deutsche Bank.
  • Nucor (NUE) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • Overseas Shipholding (OSG) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
December 22, 2008

Posted on: December 22, 2008 – 8:32 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , ,

Coal and Steel Play Follow the Leader (IIIN, RS, ACI, BTU, MEE, NUE)

Two small-cap steel companies reported earnings before the market opened today. Insteel Industries (NASDAQ:IIIN) beat analysts’ estimates of $0.60 EPS on $101 million in revenue, posting EPS of $0.89 on revenues of $106 million. Reliance Steel (NYSE:RS) posted EPS of $2.07 on revenue of $2.57 billion, easily outpacing estimates of $1.95 EPS and revenue of $2.37 billion. Insteel is up more than 3% and Reliance is up more than 11% in early trading today.

Read More »

Posted on: October 16, 2008 – 2:48 pm in Commodities, Earnings, Metals, , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (AET, AA, ACI, JEC, GEOY, LLL, NUE, NVDA, BTU, UNH)

These are ten of the individual analyst calls seen out there this Thursday morning ahead of a 3-day weekend:

  • Aetna (NYSE: AET) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  • Alcoa (NYSE: AA) Raised from Sell to Hold at Soleil.
  • Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) Raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
  • Jacobs (NYSE: JEC) raised to Buy from Hold at Morgan Joseph.
  • GeoEye (NASDAQ: GEOY) started as Buy at Soeil.
  • L3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Cowen.
  • Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) Raised to Sector Perform from Sector Underperform at CIBC.
  • NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) Cut to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Peabody (NYSE: BTU) Raised to Buy from Hold at Citi.
  • UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) cut to Neutral at UBS.

We also saw RBC raise the Communication Towers Sector.

Jon C. Ogg
July 3, 2008

Posted on: July 3, 2008 – 7:16 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (CENT, CSUN, EP, FSLR, INTU, MDT, MU, NOV, NUE, PALM)

These are ten of the analyst calls we are focusing on this morning:

  • Central Garden (NASDAQ: CENT) raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  • China Sunergy (NASDAQ: CSUN) raised to Hold at Jefferies.
  • El Paso (NYSE: EP) Cut to Neutral from Buy By Goldman Sachs.
  • First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut To Underperform From Mkt Perform By FBR.
  • Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) Cut To Hold From Buy By Citigroup.
  • Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
  • Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) Raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  • National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) Cut to Add from Buy at Calyon.
  • Nucor Corp (NYSE: NUE) Cut to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
  • Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) Cut to Sell from Neutral at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
May 21, 2008

Posted on: May 21, 2008 – 7:03 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Nucor Taps Capital After a Huge Run (NUE)

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is going to pursue a public offering of 25,000,000 shares of common stock and it granted underwriters an over-allotment option of up to an additional 3,750,000 shares.  This offering is expected to close on or around May 29, 2008.

Banc of America, Citigroup, and J.P. Morgan are listed as the joint book-runners for the offering.

Based on today’s closing price, the gross proceeds before fees would be about $2.03 Billion, and the company’s market cap is listed as nearly $23.5 Billion.  Net proceeds from the offering are listed as being for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions, capital expenditures, working capital needs and repayment of debt. 

In addition to this, Nucor intends to raise up to $1 billion in the debt capital markets in the near term, subject to market conditions.

Nucor shares closed down 0.9% in regular trading at $81.32, and shares are down about another 1.7% at $79.92 after-hours.  Its 52-week trading range is $41.62 to $82.40, so the company is capturing what it can at what it has seen as top dollar.  In 2004, this stock traded under $20.00 and traded under $10.00 in 2003.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear about other IPO’s, secondaries, financings, spin-offs, and mergers.

Jon C. Ogg
May 19, 2008

Jon Ogg produces and edits the "10 Stocks Under $10" newsletter and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: May 19, 2008 – 3:14 pm in Oil & Gas, Secondary Offering,

Big Price Movers In S&P 500 For Q1 2008 (MSFT)(GOOG)(AAPL)(INTC)(C)(AIG)(VZ)

The largest losers among the big companies in the S&P 500 for the first quarter were:

Microsoft (MSFT) down 21.6%, Google (GOOG) down 36.7%, Apple (AAPL) down 27.8%, Intel (INTC) down 22%, Citigroup (C) down 29.3%, AIG (AIG) down 26.6%, Verizon (VZ) down 17.9%, Schering-Plough (SGP) down 22.1%, Merck (MRK) down 23.4%, Wachovia ((WB) down 31.7%, United Health (UNH) down 40.9%, Merrill Lynch (MER) down 26.3%, Marathon Oil (MRO) down 23.6%, EMC (EMC) down 22.8%, Amazon (AMZN) down 24.7%, Valero (VLO) down 30.1%, Fannie Mae (FNM) down 34.9%, CME Group (CME) down 30.1%, WellPoint (WLP) down 50.7%, Motorola (MOT) down 42.6%, Lehman (LEH) down 42.3%. Spint (S) down 51.1%, Best Buy (BBY) down 23%, Freddie Mac (FRE) down 25.3%, and NYSE Euronext (NYX) down 30.4%.

The largest winners among the big companies in the S&P 500 in the first quarter were:

Wal-Mart (WMT) up 9.7%, Devon Energy (DVN) up 17.3%, Yahoo! (YHOO) up 24.6%, Burlington Northern (BNI) up 10.5%, XTO Energy (XTO) up 18.2%, EOG Resources (EOG) up 33.2%, Calgene (CELG) up 28.6%, Chesapeake Energy (CHK) up 16.1%, CSX (CSX) up 28.6%, and Nucor (NUE) up 16.2%.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: March 31, 2008 – 5:40 pm in Large Cap Stocks, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Goldman Sachs & Massive Steel Prices (X, NUE, ATI, STLD, SCHN, GNA, WOR, AKS, ROCK, RS, CMC)

Goldman Sachs is out with a call raising its steel company earnings targets after above expectation steel prices and tighter supplies that represent a physical steel shortage. It sees some US steel prices rising from $700 recent targets up to a new $850 target per short ton.  It also sees 2009 prices above 2008 prices and sees wider spreads with raw steel compared to scrap costs.

There was one lowered target on Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZEUS).  Goldman Sachs is raising ZEUS earnings estimates for this year and next, but it is downgrading the stock from Buy to Neutral because its shares are up more than 50% since being added as Buy in November.  It is raising the rating on U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) from neutral to Buy and it has raised targets as well, and it raised 2008 EPS from $11.10 to $14.80 and 2008 from $12.75 to $16.75.

Other estimates are raised in the sector:  Allegheny Tech (NYSE: ATI) was maintained as Buy and saw a slight boost to earnings targets.  Gerdau AmeriSteel (NYSE: GNA), Gibralter Ind. (NASDAQ: ROCK), Reliance Steel (NYSE: RS), Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD), AK Steel (NYSE: AKS), and Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC) are all neutral rated but saw estimates raised considerably considering the neutral ratings.

The firm is also positive on Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE), which it maintains a Buy rating on and raised estimates sharply on for this year and next.

Goldman Sachs has sell ratings on Worthington (NYSE: WOR) and Schnitzer Steel (NASDAQ: SCHN), although the firm even raised earnings estimates on those two names.

Jon C. Ogg
March 20, 2008

Posted on: March 20, 2008 – 7:29 am in Analyst Calls, Metals, , , , , , , , , , ,

Goldman Sachs on Steel & Metals in 2008 (NUE, ZEUS, RS, ATI, X, SCHN, AKS)

Goldman Sachs is out with a call covering the steel stocks.  We’ll be keeping this one shortened to keep it in a summary format.  Goldman is noting that US STEEL PRICES ARE SET TO RISE SIGNIFICANTLY IN 2008.  It notes a short squeeze that should more than offset recessionary demand trends.  It also notes a trend in mini-mills where they will see higher scrap price costs in the near-term but will have wider margins later in 2008 and 2009.  Goldman also believes the integrated steel companies will see margin increases on an immediate basis.

Below are the stock calls seen in the steel and related sector:

  • Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) is its Top Pick in the sector;
  • and that is followed by Olympic Steel (NASDAQ: ZUES) and Reliance Steel (NYSE: RS) as Buy ratings;
  • it also has Allegheny Tech (NYSE: ATI), U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) as Neutral ratings;
  • Schnitzer Steel (NASDAQ: SCHN) was downgraded to the loathed SELL rating from an already lackluster Neutral rating.  It sees a 15% downside to its new price target of $47.00 as the premium to peers is unwarranted.
  • AK Steel Holding (NYSE: AKS) is being removed from The Americas SellList and therefore being raised to a Neutral rating.  Its 2008estimates are being hiked to $4.25 from $3.30 and the 2009 estimatesare being raised to $3.85 from $3.35. 

Jon C. Ogg
January 16, 2008

Posted on: January 16, 2008 – 9:17 am in Analyst Calls, Metals, , , , , , ,

Pre-Market Analyst Calls (July 20, 2007)

ADSK cut to Hold at Citigroup.
ALEX cut to Mkt Perform at Wachovia.
ALVR cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
BMI cut to Neutral at Baird.
CLWR cut to Hold at Jefferies.
CYBS cut to Mkt Perform at JMP Securities.
FFCH raised to Neutral at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.
KR cut to Hold at BB&T.
HSY cut to Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
ITT cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
MAN raised to Buy at B of A.
NUE raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
PFGC cut to Hold at BB&T.
RTSX started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
SLG raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
STX raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
SWY cut to Hold at BB&T.
SYY cut to Hold at BB&T.
TRN started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
WLSC cut to Equal Weight at Lehman.
X cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Jon C. Ogg
July 20, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: July 20, 2007 – 6:28 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Goldman Sachs Backs Away From Two Steel Stocks (NUE, GNA)

After Nucor Corp. (NUE-NYSE) lowered guidance, Goldman Sachs has decided to withdraw it from the Americas Conviction Buy List.  It notes that the stock appears undervalued to the $71.00 price target and it is keeping its official BUY Rating on the stock, but it says there is no near-term catalyst on the stock.

Gerdau AmeriSteel Corp. (GNA-NYSE) has also been downgraded from a Neutral down to a SELL Rating, and added to Americas Conviction Sell List.  It sees near-term weakness in demand for end products and is overvalued compared to Goldman’s target of $13.00.  2007 estimates were lowered from $1.50 EPS down to $1.45.

Jon C. Ogg
June 13, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: June 13, 2007 – 8:25 am in Analyst Calls, Metals, ,

Earnings Warning & Denying Merger Rumors Hurt Steel Stocks (NUE, STLD, X, RS, AKS)

Stock Tickers: NUE, STLD, X, RS, AKS

Nucor Corp. (NUE-NYSE) has a bit of a surprising news this morning: a steel company issuing an earnings warning. It now expects that earnings for the second quarter ending June 30, 2007 are expected to be in the range of $1.05 to $1.15 per diluted share, compared to estimates of $1.39 and compared to $1.26 EPS in the first quarter of 2007.

Here is the explanation from the company:  Second quarter earnings have been significantly impacted by lower shipments from Nucor’s bar mill group. The rapid increase in scrap prices in the first quarter resulted in hedge buying during that quarter by our customers ahead of anticipated increases in steel products pricing. This hedge buying by our customers produced a record for first quarter shipments from our bar mill group. In addition to the first quarter hedge buying driven by volatility in scrap pricing, bar market demand in the second quarter has been marginally reduced by softness in the automotive and residential construction segments. This softness reduced demand for our SBQ bar and rebar products. We expect second quarter bar shipments to decline approximately 17% from the first quarter shipments.

This news combined with the news that ThyssenKrupp in Europe denied market rumors and reports that it was in talks to acquire U.S. Steel (X-NYSE). 

This combined earnings warning from a key player and less consolidation in the sector is pressuring other steel names: Steel Dynamics (STLD-NASDAQ) -4%, US Steel (X-NYSE) -5.5%, Reliance Steel & Aluminum (RS-NYSE) -2%, AK Steel (AKS) -2.5%.

Jon C. Ogg
June 11, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: June 11, 2007 – 8:45 am in Metals, , , , ,