289,866 Shares in Nucor Corporation $NUE Bought by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Nucor Corporation during the first quarter, purchasing 289,866 shares for approximately $34.88 million, representing 0.13% of the company.
• Nucor recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.5%, set to be paid on November 10.
• Analysts have generally given Nucor a favorable outlook, with a consensus price target of $155.78 and several upgrades from firms like Jefferies and Wells Fargo.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 289,866 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $34,882,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.13% of Nucor at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 3.8% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 311,882 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,532,000 after purchasing an additional 11,471 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 137.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 96,026 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $11,556,000 after purchasing an additional 55,585 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 6.7% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,389 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 354,411 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $38,911,000 after purchasing an additional 7,678 shares during the period. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 134.4% during the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 16,663 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 9,553 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NUE stock traded up $2.04 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $143.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 632,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,358,889. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $142.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.36. The company has a market capitalization of $33.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.98, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.76. Nucor Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $97.59 and a fifty-two week high of $170.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, 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 value of $1,303,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. This represents a 9.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 82,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,857,956.14. The trade was a 8.84% 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 quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.