Uncommon Cents Investing LLC Sells 305 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 305 shares during the quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in Nucor by 3.2% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 652,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $98,097,000 after purchasing an additional 20,258 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $565,000. BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $681,000. Finally, Ascension Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $885,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.63.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $124.40 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $112.25 and a one year high of $203.00. The firm has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.57 EPS. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.26%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.