Point72 Europe London LLP Takes Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 26,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NUE. Argus set a $155.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price objective on Nucor in a report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.33.

Nucor Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE NUE opened at $117.13 on Thursday. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $97.59 and a 12-month high of $176.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $27.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73.

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

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is 39.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total value of $4,115,065.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,590,128.67. This represents a 17.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.