Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 3,409 Shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Nucor Corporation by 3.0% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 3,409 shares, bringing its total holdings to 118,019 shares valued at approximately $14.2 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Pictet Asset Management and Schroder Investment Management Group, have also increased their holdings in Nucor, with institutional ownership now at 76.48%.
• Nucor announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, payable on August 11th, representing an annualized yield of 1.56%.

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 118,019 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,409 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers owned about 0.05% of Nucor worth $14,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 20,785 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,501,000 after buying an additional 2,932 shares in the last quarter. Mendel Money Management purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at about $201,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at about $194,804,000. Unison Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 42,433 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,130,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,849 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.13.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE:NUE traded down $4.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $138.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,721,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,572,919. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.83. Nucor Corporation has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $170.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $130.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.70.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 4.21%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Nucor's payout ratio is currently 39.71%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $12,265,209.60. This represents a 9.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total value of $906,342.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99,379 shares in the company, valued at $12,707,592.73. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.