Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Purchases 1,696 Shares of Nucor Corporation $NUE

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 5.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,696 shares during the period. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $4,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Matrix Trust Co lifted its stake in Nucor by 53.8% in the second quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 240 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Nucor by 81.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY acquired a new stake in Nucor in the first quarter worth $48,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Nucor by 209.6% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 86.8% during the first quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC now owns 467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $1,051,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 92,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,458,134. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total value of $903,520.08. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,464 shares in the company, valued at $3,333,882.24. This represents a 21.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,309 shares of company stock valued at $4,553,771 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nucor Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $131.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $140.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $129.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $30.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.75. Nucor Corporation has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $170.52.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 4.21% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NUE shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $182.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Nucor from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.60.

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.