Horizon Advisory Services Inc. Raises Stake in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Horizon Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,962 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the quarter. Horizon Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Nucor by 17.8% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 31,595 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,853,000 after acquiring an additional 4,763 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 528.6% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 507,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $59,235,000 after buying an additional 426,949 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 21.4% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 101,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,210,000 after buying an additional 17,861 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 20.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 28,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,476,000 after buying an additional 4,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 48.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total transaction of $1,303,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. This trade represents a 9.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 162,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,590,128.67. This represents a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,326 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,108. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $142.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.34, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $122.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.28. Nucor Corporation has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $170.52.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced 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 net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 6.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 39.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.00.

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.