Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) CEO Leon J. Topalian Sells 34,238 Shares of Stock

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total transaction of $4,115,065.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,993 shares in the company, valued at $19,590,128.67. This represents a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Nucor Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NUE opened at $120.50 on Tuesday. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $176.59. The stock has a market cap of $27.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. The firm had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 39.15%.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $398,077,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 17,785.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,867,000 after acquiring an additional 502,961 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Nucor by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,404,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $280,627,000 after purchasing an additional 474,274 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Nucor by 528.6% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 507,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $59,235,000 after purchasing an additional 426,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Nucor by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,435,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $284,220,000 after purchasing an additional 384,205 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price objective on Nucor in a report on Monday, March 24th. Argus set a $155.00 price target on Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.33.

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.