Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Boosts Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 110.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 204,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 107,296 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC owned 0.09% of Nucor worth $23,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Widmann Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.0% in the third quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted 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 valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in Nucor by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $822,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP increased its position in shares of Nucor by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 5,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $789,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Down 2.8 %

NUE traded down $3.36 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $117.92. 888,586 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,005,493. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $146.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The stock has a market cap of $27.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.48 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 21.26%.

About Nucor

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.