&Partners Acquires 3,788 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

&Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 179.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,788 shares during the quarter. &Partners’ holdings in Nucor were worth $933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 94.2% during the first quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its holdings in Nucor by 208.0% during the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,840. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on NUE. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Nucor from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $187.00 to $176.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.43.

Nucor Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NUE traded up $1.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $147.89. 177,027 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,457,793. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $154.21 and its 200-day moving average is $172.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 1.57. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $139.41 and a 1 year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.37. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The company had revenue of $8.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.81 EPS. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 10.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Nucor’s payout ratio is 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.