Flputnam Investment Management Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management Co. significantly increased its stake in Nucor Corporation by 45.6%, bringing its holdings to 7,897 shares valued at approximately $950,000.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Vanguard Group, also raised their shares in Nucor, with institutional investors now owning 76.48% of the company.
• Analysts have upgraded Nucor's rating, reflecting confidence in its performance, with an average consensus price target of $155.78.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 45.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,897 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Nucor were worth $950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NUE. AXA S.A. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 22,522 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,629,000 after purchasing an additional 11,628 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Nucor by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,057 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at $333,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at $410,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP raised its position in shares of Nucor by 306.6% during the 4th quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 13,796 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 10,403 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total transaction of $1,303,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. The trade was a 9.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total transaction of $903,520.08. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,464 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,333,882.24. This represents a 21.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,397 shares of company stock valued at $6,763,814 in the last quarter. 0.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE traded down $0.54 on Monday, reaching $146.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 311,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,366,371. Nucor Corporation has a 52-week low of $97.59 and a 52-week high of $170.52. The company has a market cap of $33.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.83.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Nucor's payout ratio is currently 39.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Nucor to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.78.

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.