NorthRock Partners LLC Buys New Shares in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,538 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NUE. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Nucor by 47.2% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Nucor by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. increased its position in Nucor by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 26,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,137,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP increased its position in Nucor by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 168,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,657,000 after buying an additional 10,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BTS Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $255,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NUE. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus set a $155.00 target price on Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock 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 assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.33.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE opened at $115.85 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.49. The company has a market capitalization of $26.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $173.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.25 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 39.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 162,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.