Empower Advisory Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Nucor Corporation by 19.7%, owning roughly 587,047 shares valued at about $70.6 million.
• Nucor recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.60, slightly exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55, which will be paid on August 11th, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.6%.

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 19.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 587,047 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 96,792 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Nucor worth $70,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Nucor by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,435,265 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $284,220,000 after buying an additional 384,205 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Nucor by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,404,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $280,627,000 after buying an additional 474,274 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the first quarter valued at about $194,804,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Nucor by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,384,590 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $161,595,000 after buying an additional 96,375 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,077 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $159,902,000 after buying an additional 186,663 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NUE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, UBS Group decreased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 94,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. This represents a 9.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total value of $1,150,050.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 82,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,857,956.14. This trade represents a 8.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,109 shares of company stock valued at $3,360,094. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $139.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,066,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,747,630. The company has a market cap of $32.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $133.57 and a 200 day moving average of $126.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.83. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 4.21%. Nucor's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is 39.71%.

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.