American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stake in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Nucor Corporation by 14.8%, owning a total of 349,821 shares valued at approximately $42.1 million.
• Nucor reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.60, beating estimates and reflecting a 4.7% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings on Nucor, with an average price target now set at $155.78 as the stock receives overall positive evaluations.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 14.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 349,821 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 45,147 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.15% of Nucor worth $42,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 1st quarter worth about $194,804,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 1st quarter valued at about $141,216,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Nucor by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,959,327 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,484,965,000 after buying an additional 745,671 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Nucor by 17,785.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,789 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $60,867,000 after buying an additional 502,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Nucor by 528.6% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE traded up $4.5160 on Friday, hitting $147.7660. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,407,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,649,232. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $138.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.42. The firm has a market cap of $33.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.74. Nucor Corporation has a 12 month low of $97.59 and a 12 month high of $170.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total value of $1,150,050.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 82,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,857,956.14. This trade represents a 8.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,051,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 92,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,458,134. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,309 shares of company stock valued at $5,860,294 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $155.78.

Nucor 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.