Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lowered its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 52.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,585 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $625,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $233,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Nucor by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 3,119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 7,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,252,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Argus upgraded Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Nucor from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $187.00 to $176.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $194.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $1,379,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,840. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE stock traded up $1.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $151.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,441,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,455,779. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.79. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $139.41 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The stock has a market cap of $36.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.85.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 10.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.81 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 10.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

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.