Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV Boosts Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 94.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares during the period. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV’s holdings in Nucor were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Covea Finance bought a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,836,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at $163,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in Nucor by 47.2% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $3,872,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.63.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other Nucor news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 in the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $123.08 on Thursday. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $135.85 and its 200 day moving average is $145.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.57 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s payout ratio is 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.