KBC Group NV Sells 31,327 Shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

KBC Group NV lessened its stake in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 219,572 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 31,327 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned 0.10% of Nucor worth $26,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 576,666 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $69,396,000 after purchasing an additional 11,220 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,089 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,649 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 250.8% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,093 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 6,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 118,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $14,161,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NUE has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Argus set a $155.00 price target on Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.00.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE traded up $4.73 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $138.84. 1,967,636 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,237,711. The company has a market capitalization of $32.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.52. Nucor Corporation has a 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $170.52. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $119.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.13.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.82% and a net margin of 4.40%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is 39.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total value of $906,342.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 99,379 shares in the company, valued at $12,707,592.73. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total value of $4,115,065.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 162,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,590,128.67. The trade was a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 51,326 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,108. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nucor Profile

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.