4,194 Shares in Nucor Corporation $NUE Purchased by Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC

Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 4,194 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nucor by 580.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 653,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,699,000 after buying an additional 557,819 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Nucor by 20.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,042,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $412,081,000 after purchasing an additional 509,019 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Nucor by 169.0% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 779,940 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $127,216,000 after purchasing an additional 489,950 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Nucor by 494.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 434,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,873,000 after purchasing an additional 361,417 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in Nucor by 146.9% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 548,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $74,339,000 after purchasing an additional 326,572 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $227.49 on Friday. Nucor Corporation has a 1 year low of $106.21 and a 1 year high of $235.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $184.10 and a 200-day moving average of $171.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.87.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.88 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.68%. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 13.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.18%.

Nucor announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on NUE shares. UBS Group cut shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $224.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Nucor from $196.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Nucor from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 12,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.00, for a total value of $2,912,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 89,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,277,624. This trade represents a 12.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 4,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.86, for a total transaction of $1,028,566.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,802,127.24. This represents a 21.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 76,770 shares of company stock valued at $17,132,834 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Company Profile

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value?added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.