Diligent Investors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Diligent Investors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 42.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,194 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the quarter. Diligent Investors LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. InvesTrust acquired a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $4,388,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 110.0% in the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 204,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,910,000 after acquiring an additional 107,296 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 33,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,891,000 after buying an additional 1,708 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 61,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,170,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its stake in Nucor by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 50,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,942,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total value of $4,115,065.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,590,128.67. This represents a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE opened at $115.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $97.59 and a 12 month high of $176.59. The company’s fifty day moving average is $119.70 and its 200-day moving average is $130.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.25 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.33.

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.