Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $5.73 Million Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC cut its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 49,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 959 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $5,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Nucor by 4.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 126.5% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 56,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,973,000 after purchasing an additional 31,698 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 3.3% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.6% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 12,890 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 9.0% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 220,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,828,000 after buying an additional 18,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.63.

Nucor Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE NUE opened at $124.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The company has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.57 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. 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 1.77%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 21.26%.

Nucor 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.