Stephens Inc. AR Grows Stock Holdings in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NUE. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 48.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,022 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 78,539 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,451,000 after purchasing an additional 7,507 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 16,673 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 2,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Nucor by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 98,921 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,904,000 after purchasing an additional 7,151 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.90, for a total transaction of $1,449,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 84,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,183,192. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total transaction of $903,520.08. Following the transaction, the insider owned 22,464 shares in the company, valued at $3,333,882.24. The trade was a 21.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,309 shares of company stock valued at $4,553,771. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nucor Stock Performance

Nucor stock opened at $138.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.75. Nucor Corporation has a twelve month low of $97.59 and a twelve month high of $170.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $140.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 4.21% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.71%.

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.