Foster & Motley Inc. Lowers Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 809 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,809,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nucor by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $883,732,000 after purchasing an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $519,648,000 after purchasing an additional 571,682 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Nucor by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,612,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $242,381,000 after purchasing an additional 45,467 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NUE. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,680 shares of company stock worth $3,452,524. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $128.69 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. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $112.25 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $129.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 21.26%.

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.