Eastern Bank Buys 550 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Eastern Bank lifted its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 37.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Nucor were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 4.1% during the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nucor by 94.2% during the first quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Nucor by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in Nucor by 3.3% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,401 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $1,379,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,840. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on NUE. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Argus raised shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America reduced their target price on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.57.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE opened at $141.66 on Thursday. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $133.42 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $33.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.39.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. Nucor’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.57 EPS. Research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

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.