Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 217 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Nucor were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at $29,109,918.96. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,452,524. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE:NUE opened at $131.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $128.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.05.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.16%.

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.