J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Acquires 4,758 Shares of Nucor Corporation $NUE

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its stake in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 26.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,758 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Nucor were worth $3,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $609,002,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Nucor by 580.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 653,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,699,000 after buying an additional 557,819 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Nucor by 169.0% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 779,940 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,216,000 after buying an additional 489,950 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Nucor by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,780,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $290,405,000 after buying an additional 383,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Nucor by 494.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 434,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $70,873,000 after buying an additional 361,417 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 4,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.86, for a total transaction of $1,028,566.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,802,127.24. This trade represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John J. Hollatz sold 10,560 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.46, for a total value of $2,729,337.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 97,865 shares in the company, valued at $25,294,187.90. The trade was a 9.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 82,378 shares of company stock valued at $18,963,930 over the last ninety days. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Nucor from $210.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. KeyCorp raised Nucor from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $274.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Argus upped their price objective on Nucor from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Nucor from $227.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.15.

Nucor Stock Up 2.5%

NYSE:NUE opened at $233.00 on Tuesday. Nucor Corporation has a one year low of $131.32 and a one year high of $270.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.90 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $53.06 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.91. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $238.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $199.90.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.88 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The company’s revenue was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 17.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.18%.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.