Navellier & Associates Inc. Makes New Investment in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Key Points

• Navellier & Associates opened a new position in Nucor of 28,542 shares (about $4.66M) in Q4, and multiple large institutions materially increased stakes, leaving institutional ownership at roughly 76.5%.
• Nucor beat Q1 estimates (EPS $3.23 vs. $2.82; revenue +21% YoY) and its board approved a $4.0B share buyback while maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.56 ($2.24 annualized).
• Analysts have raised targets recently (Goldman $260, Jefferies $250, BNP Paribas $248), resulting in a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a $243.80 average price target.

Navellier & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 28,542 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $4,655,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 580.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 653,845 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $84,699,000 after acquiring an additional 557,819 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Nucor by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,042,761 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $412,081,000 after acquiring an additional 509,019 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in Nucor by 169.0% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 779,940 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $127,216,000 after acquiring an additional 489,950 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Nucor by 494.5% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 434,511 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $70,873,000 after acquiring an additional 361,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 146.9% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 548,911 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $74,339,000 after buying an additional 326,572 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NUE shares. KeyCorp began coverage on Nucor in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued a "sector weight" rating for the company. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Nucor from $210.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Nucor from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Nucor from $196.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $243.80.

Nucor Stock Up 2.8%

NUE stock opened at $232.11 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $181.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Nucor Corporation has a 1-year low of $106.21 and a 1-year high of $233.74. The stock has a market cap of $52.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.87.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 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 firm had revenue of $9.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 13.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.18%.

Nucor declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to buy up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Stories Impacting Nucor

Here are the key news stories impacting Nucor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher targets — BNP Paribas Exane raised its price target to $248 and kept an "outperform" rating; other firms (Citigroup, Jefferies, Seaport) have also lifted targets recently, supporting upside expectations.
• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings push — Nucor beat Q1 estimates (EPS $3.23 vs. $2.82 expected) and reported revenue growth of ~21% YoY, which underpins analyst upgrades and higher valuations.
• Positive Sentiment: Buybacks and dividend support — board authorized a $4.0B share‑repurchase program and the company pays a dividend (annualized $2.24), both of which are shareholder‑friendly capital allocation moves that can lift the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional ownership & fundamentals — ~76% institutional ownership, modest leverage (D/E ~0.30) and solid liquidity ratios; these factors reduce headline volatility but limit surprise flows.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — EVP David A. Sumoski sold 33,068 shares at about $225.67 on Apr 30, reducing his position by ~12%. Form 4 — Sumoski
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 12,888 shares at about $226.00 on May 1, trimming his stake by ~12.6%. Form 4 — Needham
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — EVP Noah C. Hanners sold 6,472 shares at about $226.50 on May 1, an ~11.4% ownership reduction for him. Form 4 — Hanners

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 7,452 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.02, for a total transaction of $1,460,741.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 76,628 shares in the company, valued at $15,020,620.56. This represents a 8.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 12,888 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.00, for a total value of $2,912,688.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 89,724 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,277,624. This represents a 12.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 59,880 shares of company stock valued at $13,301,793 over the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nucor Company Profile

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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