Stephens Inc. AR Buys 127 Shares of Nucor Corporation $NUE

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Matrix Trust Co raised its holdings in Nucor by 53.8% in the 2nd quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 240 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Nucor by 81.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Nucor by 209.6% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in Nucor by 49.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 442 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proathlete Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $58,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $182.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,200 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,051,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 92,179 shares in the company, valued at $13,458,134. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total transaction of $903,520.08. Following the transaction, the insider owned 22,464 shares in the company, valued at $3,333,882.24. This represents a 21.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,309 shares of company stock worth $4,553,771. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nucor Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:NUE opened at $138.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Nucor Corporation has a 12 month low of $97.59 and a 12 month high of $170.52. The company has a market cap of $31.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 4.21% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.71%.

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.