Nucor Corporation $NUE Shares Bought by CX Institutional

CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 21.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 64,890 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,592 shares during the quarter. CX Institutional’s holdings in Nucor were worth $15,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the second quarter worth $247,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Nucor by 7.6% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,076,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden lifted its holdings in Nucor by 39.2% in the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 56,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,515,000 after buying an additional 15,833 shares during the period. Finally, Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA boosted its position in Nucor by 17.0% during the second quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA now owns 14,393 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,090 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were 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. This represents a 19.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Stephen D. Laxton sold 3,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.96, for a total transaction of $1,019,617.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,867 shares in the company, valued at $20,008,704.32. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley set a $270.00 price target on Nucor in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Nucor from $294.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Nucor from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Nucor from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Nucor from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.07.

Nucor Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NUE traded up $4.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $240.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,052,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,566,693. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.84. Nucor Corporation has a 1-year low of $131.32 and a 1-year high of $280.11.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $10.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.15 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 7.99%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 18.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.86%.

Nucor Profile

Nucor Corporation is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based steel producer and one of the largest steel companies in North America. The company operates electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mills that use recycled scrap steel as a primary raw material, along with facilities that manufacture and process steel products for construction, manufacturing, transportation, energy and other industrial markets.

Nucor’s product portfolio includes carbon and alloy steel in sheet, plate, bar and structural forms, as well as reinforcing steel, wire and wire mesh.