Aspire Growth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Aspire Growth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,319 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $621,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Nucor by 60.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total transaction of $4,115,065.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NUE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, March 24th. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have 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 company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $160.33.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE:NUE traded down $3.61 on Tuesday, hitting $116.88. The company had a trading volume of 2,377,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,081,244. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $120.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $130.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $176.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. The firm had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. Nucor's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.15%.

Nucor Company 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.