Amalgamated Bank Raises Position in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,888 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 557 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Nucor were worth $5,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 162,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,590,128.67. This represents a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total value of $906,342.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 99,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,707,592.73. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 51,326 shares of company stock worth $6,325,108. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised Nucor from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.00.

Nucor Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of NUE opened at $138.84 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.70. Nucor Corporation has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $170.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $119.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.25 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.82% and a net margin of 4.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 39.15%.

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.