Nucor Corporation $NUE Shares Sold by Front Street Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Front Street Capital Management Inc. has reduced its holdings in Nucor Corporation by 11.6%, selling 11,337 shares and holding 86,813 shares, which are now valued at approximately $10.45 million.
• Analysts remain positive about Nucor, with several upgrades; the stock received a "Moderate Buy" average rating and a price target of $155.78 from various research firms.
• Nucor has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55, reflecting a 1.5% dividend yield, payable on November 10th, with a payout ratio of approximately 39.71%.

Front Street Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 11.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 11,337 shares during the quarter. Nucor accounts for 2.0% of Front Street Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Front Street Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Nucor were worth $10,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NUE. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the first quarter worth about $194,804,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the first quarter worth about $141,216,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Nucor by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,959,327 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,484,965,000 after acquiring an additional 745,671 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 17,785.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,789 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $60,867,000 after acquiring an additional 502,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Nucor by 18.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,309,452 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $277,920,000 after acquiring an additional 355,364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Nucor to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $155.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,051,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 92,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,458,134. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 22,464 shares of the company's stock, 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 sold a total of 48,397 shares of company stock valued at $6,763,814 over the last three months. 0.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nucor Stock Down 2.0%

Nucor stock traded down $2.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $141.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,689,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,222,310. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $32.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.76. Nucor Corporation has a 12 month low of $97.59 and a 12 month high of $170.52. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $142.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.27.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion during 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%.Nucor's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.