Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Raises Holdings in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Key Points

• The Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its stake in Nucor Corporation by 134.4% in the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 16,663 shares valued at approximately $2.01 million.
• Nucor reported earnings of $2.60 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 4.7% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.5%, with the dividend payout ratio at 39.71%.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec grew its position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 134.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,663 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 9,553 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in Nucor were worth $2,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at $333,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 114,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $13,376,000 after purchasing an additional 12,426 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 863,909 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $100,827,000 after purchasing an additional 46,884 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 15,941 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the period. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 94.1% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 16,126 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 7,818 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Nucor to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $155.78.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total transaction of $1,150,050.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 82,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,857,956.14. This represents a 8.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total value of $903,520.08. Following the transaction, the insider owned 22,464 shares in the company, valued at $3,333,882.24. This trade represents a 21.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,397 shares of company stock valued at $6,763,814 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of Nucor stock traded down $2.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $141.47. 929,924 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,279,063. 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 stock has a market cap of $32.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.76. The firm's fifty day moving average is $143.11 and its 200-day moving average is $128.45. Nucor Corporation has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $170.52.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 4.21%.The company's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. Research analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. 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 is 39.71%.

About Nucor

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.