Catalina Capital Group LLC Cuts Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Catalina Capital Group LLC reduced its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,120 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 189 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 20.4% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 46,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,946,000 after purchasing an additional 7,831 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Nucor by 5.8% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 48,348 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,849 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 23,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,541,000 after buying an additional 1,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 4,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 1,481 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Up 2.4 %

NUE stock opened at $131.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $30.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $128.47 and its 200 day moving average is $142.05. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,452,524. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.13.

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.