Courier Capital LLC Has $204,000 Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Courier Capital LLC cut its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 271 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 60.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NUE 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.10. The company has a market cap of $28.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.57 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 21.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,499,436. The trade was a 8.35 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.63.

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.