Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 1,938 Shares of Nucor Corporation $NUE

Key Points

• Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. sold 1,938 shares of Nucor Corporation (NUE), reducing its holdings by 24.0% to a total of 6,121 shares valued at approximately $793,000.
• Multiple hedge funds have increased their stakes in Nucor, with Matrix Trust Co boosting its position by 53.8% during the second quarter.
• Nucor reported an EPS of $2.60 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.55, reflecting a yield of 1.6%.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 24.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,121 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,938 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Nucor were worth $793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Matrix Trust Co boosted its stake in Nucor by 53.8% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 240 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Nucor by 81.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 340 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY bought a new position in Nucor during the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Nucor by 209.6% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 418 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in Nucor by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 442 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NUE shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $157.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.90, for a total value of $1,449,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 84,080 shares in the company, valued at $12,183,192. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total transaction of $1,150,050.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 82,703 shares in the company, valued at $11,857,956.14. This trade represents a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,309 shares of company stock valued at $4,553,771 over the last ninety days. 0.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE stock opened at $138.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.83. The company has a market capitalization of $31.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.75. The company's 50 day moving average price is $141.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.50. 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 earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.