Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Stock Holdings Lessened by Bill Few Associates Inc.

Bill Few Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 241 shares during the period. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Widmann Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Nucor by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $822,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 5,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $789,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Nucor by 1.7% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NUE has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.63.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $121.95 on Thursday. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $112.25 and a 52-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 firm has a market capitalization of $28.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $131.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.82.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.13 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. 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 21.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.