Quantbot Technologies LP Decreases Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Quantbot Technologies LP decreased its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 70.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 26,505 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 129.0% during the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on NUE shares. Argus upgraded Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $154.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.55. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $133.42 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.57 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s payout ratio is 20.87%.

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.