3,467 Shares in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Purchased by Mufg Securities Americas Inc.

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Canal Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Nucor by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc raised its holdings in Nucor by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 10,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $115.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $97.59 and a 52-week high of $176.59. The company has a 50 day moving average of $117.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.81. The company has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73.

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

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 39.15%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NUE. Argus set a $155.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.33.

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.