SlateStone Wealth LLC Decreases Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

SlateStone Wealth LLC decreased its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 335 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $373,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. PFG Advisors increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 2,359 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $235,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 109.2% during the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 56,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,758,000 after purchasing an additional 29,241 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 310.9% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.83.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE:NUE traded down $14.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $177.56. The company had a trading volume of 3,074,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,402,138. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $129.79 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $191.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.06. The company has a market capitalization of $42.61 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). Nucor had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 13.03%. The company had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 12.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total transaction of $1,025,035.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,902,206.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.