Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 248,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 41,494 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Nucor worth $43,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 716.7% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Nucor by 2,410.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total value of $1,025,035.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,151 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,683. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.14.

Nucor Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $175.24 on Tuesday. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $129.79 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The stock has a market cap of $42.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $190.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 4.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The firm had revenue of $8.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

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.