Meridian Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Nucor by 129.0% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 769.2% during the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

Nucor stock opened at $151.92 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $35.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.96. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $133.42 and a twelve month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.57 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Argus raised shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.57.

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.