Covea Finance Purchases Shares of 50,000 Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Covea Finance acquired a new position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 50,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,836,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,499,436. The trade was a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lowered their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. 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 for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.63.

Nucor Stock Performance

Nucor stock opened at $121.73 on Wednesday. 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 $28.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.57 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.