Aberdeen Group plc Grows Position in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 130,961 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,160 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.06% of Nucor worth $17,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NUE. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 1st quarter worth about $194,804,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 1st quarter worth about $141,216,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,959,327 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,484,965,000 after purchasing an additional 745,671 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,309,452 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $277,920,000 after buying an additional 355,364 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 301.4% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 408,685 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,181,000 after buying an additional 306,867 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Nucor from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America raised their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Nucor from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Nucor from $182.00 to $173.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.60.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $138.45 on Wednesday. Nucor Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $97.59 and a fifty-two week high of $170.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $141.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $31.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.75.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 4.21%.The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. Nucor's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.71%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,200 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $1,051,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 92,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,458,134. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total value of $903,520.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,464 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,333,882.24. The trade was a 21.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,309 shares of company stock worth $4,553,771 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.