Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Invests $26,000 in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 129.0% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new stake in Nucor in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 45.6% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 769.2% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $146.38 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $148.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.22. The firm has a market cap of $34.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $133.42 and a one year high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Argus raised Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.