New York State Common Retirement Fund Raises Stock Position in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 9.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,609 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.06% of Nucor worth $15,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,967,254 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $701,255,000 after buying an additional 105,309 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at about $398,077,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,435,265 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $284,220,000 after acquiring an additional 384,205 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Nucor by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,404,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $280,627,000 after acquiring an additional 474,274 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 7.5% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 96,375 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total transaction of $4,115,065.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 162,993 shares in the company, valued at $19,590,128.67. This represents a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total transaction of $1,303,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. The trade was a 9.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,326 shares of company stock worth $6,325,108 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nucor Trading Down 0.1%

NUE stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $140.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,492,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,238,338. Nucor Corporation has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $170.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $124.51 and a 200 day moving average of $123.90. The company has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.02, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.70. 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 (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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 6.82%. The business had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. Nucor's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Nucor's payout ratio is 39.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NUE. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $152.75.

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.