Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 38.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,752 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 7,491 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $3,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at $252,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Nucor by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 9,404 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,098,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter worth $1,861,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 771.7% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 13,999 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,634,000 after acquiring an additional 12,393 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NUE. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $152.75.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total transaction of $906,342.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,707,592.73. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total value of $1,303,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. This trade represents a 9.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 51,326 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,108 in the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE NUE traded down $0.11 on Friday, hitting $140.64. 1,492,192 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,244,048. Nucor Corporation has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $170.52. The company has a market capitalization of $32.45 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.70. The business's fifty day moving average is $125.02 and its 200 day moving average is $124.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 6.82%. The business had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.