Sunbelt Securities Inc. Grows Stake in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 250.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,093 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,501 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.'s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $150.00.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor 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 value of $906,342.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,707,592.73. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total transaction of $4,115,065.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,590,128.67. This trade represents a 17.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

Nucor Stock Up 0.9%

NUE stock traded up $1.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $131.75. 2,860,212 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,776,333. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Nucor Corporation has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $170.52.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 6.82%. Nucor's revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Nucor's payout ratio is 39.15%.

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.