CGN Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

CGN Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,343 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE stock opened at $124.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $112.25 and a one year high of $203.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $133.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.57.

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

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lowered their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.63.

Nucor 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.