Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Acquired by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 274.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 177,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 129,938 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $20,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 8,530.1% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $239,819,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576,695 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Nucor by 19.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after purchasing an additional 571,682 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,829,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $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% in 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 during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Nucor Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $121.95 on Thursday. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.97. The company has a market cap of $28.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.26%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was 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 owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.