InvesTrust Buys New Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

InvesTrust purchased a new position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 37,697 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,388,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NUE. Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 4,073 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Nucor by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $565,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Nucor by 60.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 3.1% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of Nucor stock traded down $3.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $118.22. The company had a trading volume of 877,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,005,493. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $138.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.33. The company has a market cap of $27.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $112.25 and a twelve month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.57 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on NUE. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Profile

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.