Courier Capital LLC Sells 271 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Courier Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 271 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 46.0% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 4.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 20.3% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the second quarter valued at about $1,651,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 108,428 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,129,000 after buying an additional 5,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $121.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $135.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.10.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.57 earnings per share. Nucor’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.63.

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.