Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,475 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,776 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $10,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Canal Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.6% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,512 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.6% in the first quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 2,296 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 10,777 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,258,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE stock traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $142.43. 1,242,965 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,242,512. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $122.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.70. Nucor Corporation has a 12-month low of $97.59 and a 12-month high of $170.52. 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 (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.25 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.82% and a net margin of 4.40%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total transaction of $4,115,065.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 162,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,590,128.67. This trade represents a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. This represents a 9.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,326 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,108 over the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $150.00.

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.