Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $3.48 Million Holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 20.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,886 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 4,914 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Nucor were worth $3,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,013 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,052,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,568 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nucor by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Nucor by 65.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,375 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in Nucor by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 162,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,590,128.67. The trade was a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NUE. UBS Group reduced 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. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $157.22.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE traded up $0.61 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $122.28. 1,855,524 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,211,915. Nucor Corporation has a 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $170.52. The company has a market capitalization of $28.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business's 50 day moving average is $115.37 and its 200-day moving average is $123.13.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued 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 6.82% and a net margin of 4.40%. The firm had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. Nucor's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Nucor's payout ratio is 39.15%.

Nucor Company 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.