Nucor Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:NUE)

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 10,677 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 23% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,660 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on NUE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.63.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,452,524. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NUE. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Nucor by 8,530.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,819,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576,695 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after acquiring an additional 571,682 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,829,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Nucor by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Trading Up 3.6 %

NUE traded up $4.37 on Tuesday, hitting $126.34. The company had a trading volume of 2,004,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,361,334. The firm has a market cap of $29.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $130.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nucor will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 21.26%.

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.