Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Holdings Cut by CCM Investment Advisers LLC

CCM Investment Advisers LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 92.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 56,596 shares during the quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NUE. State Street Corp increased its position in Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $883,732,000 after acquiring an additional 74,569 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,909,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $617,915,000 after acquiring an additional 84,558 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Nucor by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after purchasing an additional 571,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Nucor by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,160,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $341,580,000 after purchasing an additional 67,974 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nucor Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Nucor stock traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $117.68. The stock had a trading volume of 523,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,006,227. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $27.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The firm 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 company’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

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

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.