Arjuna Capital Sells 7,615 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Arjuna Capital reduced its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 24.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,615 shares during the quarter. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Nucor were worth $3,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 52.8% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 17,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,726,000 after buying an additional 5,960 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Nucor by 94.2% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Nucor by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 262,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,665,000 after purchasing an additional 15,058 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the first quarter worth approximately $1,847,000. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in shares of Nucor by 86.2% during the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 12,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,552,000 after purchasing an additional 5,971 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $1,379,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,840. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on NUE. Argus upgraded Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Nucor from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $187.00 to $176.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.43.

Nucor Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NUE stock traded up $1.90 on Friday, reaching $151.92. 1,441,370 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,455,779. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.79. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $139.41 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.42 billion, a PE ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 1.57.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The business’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 10.57 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.71%.

Nucor Company Profile

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.