Empirical Finance LLC Has $1.78 Million Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Nucor by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 652,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $98,097,000 after buying an additional 20,258 shares during the period. CX Institutional increased its stake in Nucor by 52.8% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 17,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after acquiring an additional 5,960 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. raised its position in Nucor by 86.2% in the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 12,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,552,000 after purchasing an additional 5,971 shares in the last quarter. Ascension Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the second quarter worth about $885,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,655,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $147.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $34.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $133.42 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $148.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.96.

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. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.57 earnings per share. Nucor’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Nucor Company 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.