National Pension Service Buys 7,799 Shares of Nucor Corporation $NUE

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Nucor Corporation by 2.4%, holding approximately $40.3 million worth of shares after purchasing an additional 7,799 shares in the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds have also increased their investments in Nucor, including Vanguard Group which raised its stake by 2.6%, now owning shares valued at about $3.5 billion.
• Analysts have shown optimism towards Nucor, with price targets set as high as $170.00, reflecting a general investment sentiment across multiple brokerages.

National Pension Service increased its position in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 335,271 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,799 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.15% of Nucor worth $40,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 73.5% during the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. The trade was a 9.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total value of $906,342.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 99,379 shares in the company, valued at $12,707,592.73. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,109 shares of company stock worth $3,360,094. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Nucor to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $155.78.

Nucor Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:NUE traded up $1.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $145.91. 1,382,729 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,472,049. The company has a market cap of $33.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $136.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. 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 released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.47 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 4.21%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Nucor's payout ratio is presently 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.