Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Trims Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. cut its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NUE. Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in Nucor during the third quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Nucor by 310.9% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Nucor during the third quarter valued at $212,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Nucor by 56.3% in the third quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional increased its holdings in Nucor by 0.7% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 14,120 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total value of $1,901,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,386,751.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total value of $1,901,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,386,751.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the 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 owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE traded up $3.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $175.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,622,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,443,328. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $129.79 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $191.04 and its 200-day moving average is $174.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 4.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.45 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.