HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 6,132 Shares of Nucor Corporation $NUE

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,334 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,132 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $8,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 73.5% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the first quarter worth $48,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE NUE traded up $1.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $145.91. 1,382,729 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,732,602. Nucor Corporation has a 12 month low of $97.59 and a 12 month high of $170.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $33.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.74.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.68 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on NUE. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Nucor to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $155.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, 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 transaction of $1,303,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at $12,265,209.60. This trade represents a 9.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total value of $906,342.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99,379 shares in the company, valued at $12,707,592.73. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,109 shares of company stock worth $3,360,094 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

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.