Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 641 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $4,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Nucor by 129.0% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 769.2% in the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Argus raised Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.57.

Nucor Stock Up 0.5 %

Nucor stock opened at $154.77 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 $36.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $133.42 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $150.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.69.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. Nucor’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.57 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.