KBC Group NV Increases Stock Position in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Key Points

• KBC Group NV increased its Nucor stake by 52.3% in Q1, buying 26,655 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 77,602 shares worth about $13.1 million.
• Nucor beat earnings and revenue estimates in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $3.23 versus $2.82 expected and revenue of $9.50 billion, up 21.3% from a year earlier.
• Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with 12 Buy ratings and 4 Hold ratings; the consensus view is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $266.31.

KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 52.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,602 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 26,655 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Nucor were worth $13,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the third quarter worth $25,000. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Nucor by 49.2% in the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 191 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nucor from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Nucor from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $274.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners increased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $245.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $266.31.

Nucor Stock Up 1.1%

NUE stock opened at $233.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $53.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.90. The business's 50-day moving average is $239.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.86. Nucor Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $131.32 and a fifty-two week high of $270.90.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.41. Nucor had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 6.82%.The business had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 17.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.18%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Bradley Ford sold 2,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.13, for a total transaction of $519,971.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,132,242.37. This represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,096 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.08, for a total transaction of $2,282,503.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 62,871 shares in the company, valued at $14,213,875.68. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 82,378 shares of company stock valued at $18,963,930 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation NYSE: NUE is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor's operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.

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