Vest Financial LLC Has $79.45 Million Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 35.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 680,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 179,246 shares during the period. Nucor makes up approximately 1.4% of Vest Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.29% of Nucor worth $79,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NUE. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Nucor in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.13.

Nucor Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NUE opened at $130.18 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $112.25 and a 12-month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.