Nucor Corporation $NUE Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its Nucor stake by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 6,762 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 278,641 shares worth about $45.4 million.
• Nucor beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $3.23 versus the $2.82 estimate and revenue of $9.5 billion, up 21.3% year over year.
• The company also approved a $4 billion share buyback and a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share, while analysts generally remain constructive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 278,641 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 6,762 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Nucor worth $45,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,407,540 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,633,554,000 after buying an additional 144,038 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Nucor by 20.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,042,761 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $412,081,000 after buying an additional 509,019 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Nucor by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,103,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $342,642,000 after buying an additional 210,577 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 2.4% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,685,250 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $228,233,000 after buying an additional 38,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Nucor by 11.2% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,630,986 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $220,884,000 after buying an additional 164,021 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE NUE opened at $227.49 on Friday. Nucor Corporation has a twelve month low of $106.21 and a twelve month high of $235.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.90. The stock has a market cap of $51.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.87. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $184.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.28.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.41. Nucor had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The firm had revenue of $9.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 13.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Nucor's payout ratio is currently 22.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Noah C. Hanners sold 6,472 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total transaction of $1,465,908.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 50,377 shares in the company, valued at $11,410,390.50. The trade was a 11.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,096 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.08, for a total transaction of $2,282,503.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 62,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,213,875.68. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 76,770 shares of company stock worth $17,132,834 over the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on NUE. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Nucor from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $196.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They set a "sector weight" rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Nucor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $224.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $243.80.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation NYSE: NUE is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor's operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.