Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Acquires 990 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,792 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Nucor by 17.4% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 45,589 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,128,000 after acquiring an additional 6,743 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 29.4% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.9% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 230,759 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,079,000 after buying an additional 10,747 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 16.6% during the third quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,819 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth $540,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Nucor news, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,351,936.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total transaction of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at $15,902,206.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,151 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,683 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of Nucor stock traded down $5.54 on Tuesday, reaching $169.70. The company had a trading volume of 635,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,428,111. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $190.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.78. The firm has a market cap of $40.72 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 1.61. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $129.79 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 4.02.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. Nucor’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.14.

Nucor Company 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.