Yousif Capital Management LLC Acquires 10,462 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 12.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,532 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 10,462 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $11,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $398,077,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Nucor by 17,785.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,789 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $60,867,000 after purchasing an additional 502,961 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Nucor by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,404,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $280,627,000 after purchasing an additional 474,274 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in Nucor by 528.6% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 507,715 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $59,235,000 after purchasing an additional 426,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Nucor by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,435,265 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $284,220,000 after acquiring an additional 384,205 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on NUE. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.22.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE traded up $3.39 on Friday, reaching $121.84. The company had a trading volume of 3,303,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,212,097. The company's fifty day moving average is $115.00 and its 200 day moving average is $123.80. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $97.59 and a fifty-two week high of $170.52. The stock has a market cap of $28.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. The business had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is 39.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,590,128.67. This represents a 17.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.