Nucor Corporation $NUE Shares Acquired by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Ellsworth Advisors LLC significantly increased its stake in Nucor Corporation by 213%, acquiring 30,988 additional shares during the first quarter, making it the firm's 20th largest position.
• Several hedge funds, including Diamond Hill Capital Management and Nuveen LLC, entered new positions in Nucor valued at over $194 million and $141 million, respectively, signaling strong institutional interest.
• Nucor reported an EPS of $2.60 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 1.5%.

Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 213.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,539 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,988 shares during the quarter. Nucor makes up approximately 1.4% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Ellsworth Advisors LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $5,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $194,804,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $141,216,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Nucor by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,959,327 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,484,965,000 after purchasing an additional 745,671 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Nucor by 17,785.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 505,789 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $60,867,000 after purchasing an additional 502,961 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Nucor by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,309,452 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $277,920,000 after purchasing an additional 355,364 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.78.

Nucor Stock Up 0.7%

NUE opened at $141.95 on Thursday. Nucor Corporation has a one year low of $97.59 and a one year high of $170.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock's fifty day moving average is $142.94 and its 200-day moving average is $128.36. The company has a market capitalization of $32.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.76.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 4.21%.The company had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Nucor's payout ratio is currently 39.71%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total value of $1,150,050.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 82,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,857,956.14. The trade was a 8.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total value of $903,520.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 22,464 shares in the company, valued at $3,333,882.24. This trade represents a 21.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,397 shares of company stock worth $6,763,814 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nucor 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.

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