11,700 Shares in Nucor Corporation $NUE Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 11,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,978,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,407,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,633,554,000 after purchasing an additional 144,038 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Nucor by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,853,205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $628,497,000 after purchasing an additional 41,728 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $609,002,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Nucor by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,042,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $412,081,000 after buying an additional 509,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Nucor by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,103,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $342,642,000 after buying an additional 210,577 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of NUE stock opened at $222.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.90. Nucor Corporation has a 1 year low of $128.46 and a 1 year high of $270.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $237.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $195.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.88.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.41. Nucor had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 6.82%.The company had revenue of $9.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 17 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Nucor from $227.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Nucor from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Seaport Research Partners boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $245.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of Nucor from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,096 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.08, for a total value of $2,282,503.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 62,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,213,875.68. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 12,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.00, for a total transaction of $2,912,688.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 89,724 shares in the company, valued at $20,277,624. This represents a 12.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 82,378 shares of company stock worth $18,963,930 in the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nucor Profile

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value?added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.