Lakeside Advisors INC. Increases Holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Lakeside Advisors INC. boosted its stake in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 22.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,237 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,059 shares during the period. Nucor accounts for approximately 3.9% of Lakeside Advisors INC.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Lakeside Advisors INC.'s holdings in Nucor were worth $5,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 73.5% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total transaction of $906,342.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 99,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,707,592.73. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total value of $1,303,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. This represents a 9.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,326 shares of company stock valued at $6,325,108 in the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NUE shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.00.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of Nucor stock traded up $3.69 during trading on Thursday, hitting $143.39. 1,967,715 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,245,251. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Nucor Corporation has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $170.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.11.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 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 company had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Nucor's payout ratio is currently 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.