Kera Capital Partners Inc. Acquires New Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 3,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NUE. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $255,000. BTS Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $255,000. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 168,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,657,000 after buying an additional 10,390 shares during the period. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 26,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in Nucor by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 5,689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Stock Up 0.8 %

Nucor stock opened at $124.40 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $133.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.48. 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 $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.26%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of 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 the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of Nucor 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.63.

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.