Heartland Advisors Inc. Takes $8.12 Million Position in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 36,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,117,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Nucor by 745.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 83,463 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,614,000 after purchasing an additional 73,588 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Nucor by 19.3% in the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 510,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $86,297,000 after buying an additional 82,668 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC increased its position in Nucor by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 175,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,544,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,809,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $306,054,000 after buying an additional 29,476 shares during the period. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth about $23,804,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NUE. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Nucor from $272.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners increased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $245.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.31.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $243.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Nucor Corporation has a 12-month low of $131.32 and a 12-month high of $280.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $246.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.89.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The basic materials company reported $4.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 17.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.86%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other Nucor news, COO Stephen D. Laxton sold 3,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.96, for a total value of $1,019,617.28. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,008,704.32. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John J. Hollatz sold 10,560 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.46, for a total transaction of $2,729,337.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 97,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,294,187.90. The trade was a 9.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,528 shares of company stock valued at $4,793,035. Corporate 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.