Nucor Corporation $NUE Shares Acquired by Fox Run Management L.L.C.

Key Points

• Fox Run Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Nucor Corporation by 236.4%, owning over 10,000 shares valued at approximately $1.2 million as of the latest reporting period.
• Multiple institutional investors have recently acquired shares of Nucor, with over 76.48% of the company's stock now held by such entities.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Nucor, with target prices ranging from $145 to $170 in their forecasts.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 236.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,047 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,060 shares during the quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C.'s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 300.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 16,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,925,000 after acquiring an additional 12,000 shares during the period. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.0% during the first quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. now owns 21,457 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,582,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its position in Nucor by 2.4% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 335,271 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $40,347,000 after buying an additional 7,799 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Nucor by 27.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 308,906 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,194,000 after buying an additional 65,775 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Nucor by 4.6% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 91,386 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $11,041,000 after buying an additional 3,988 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 82,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,857,956.14. This represents a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total transaction of $1,303,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,265,209.60. The trade was a 9.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,109 shares of company stock valued at $3,360,094. Insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on NUE. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $155.78.

Nucor Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NUE traded up $0.7050 on Tuesday, hitting $145.3550. 789,360 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,468,073. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $33.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.74. The stock's 50 day moving average is $136.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.02. Nucor Corporation has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. 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.