Nucor Corporation $NUE Stake Lessened by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 3.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 69,486 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,287 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $16,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NUE. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. lifted its position in Nucor by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 8,091 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC now owns 1,545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. RKL Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 1,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Price Performance

Nucor stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $258.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,165,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,179,709. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.84. Nucor Corporation has a twelve month low of $138.34 and a twelve month high of $280.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $252.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $241.17.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $4.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.46 by $0.38. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 7.99%. The company had revenue of $10.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 17.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Stephen Laxton sold 3,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.96, for a total transaction of $1,019,617.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,008,704.32. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas Batterbee sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.02, for a total value of $1,044,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,212,340.76. This represents a 19.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Nucor from $304.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $285.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Nucor from $224.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $288.00 to $286.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.86.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation is a steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company manufactures steel and steel products for customers in construction, automotive, energy, heavy equipment, transportation and other industrial markets.

Nucor’s operations include electric arc furnace steel mills, which produce carbon, alloy and galvanized steel products. Its product portfolio includes sheet steel, plate, beams, bars, wire and wire mesh, steel joists, deck, piling, fabricated concrete reinforcing steel and other downstream products.