Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys 4,050 Shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Nucor Corporation by 69.0% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 4,050 shares, bringing their total to nearly 10,000 shares valued at approximately $1.19 million.
• Nucor's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $2.60, exceeding estimates, with a quarterly revenue of $8.46 billion, reflecting a 4.7% year-over-year increase.
• Recently, Nucor announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, with the payout representing an annualized dividend of $2.20 and a yield of 1.6%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 69.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,918 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 4,050 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on NUE. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. UBS Group cut 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor 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 Nucor stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of Nucor 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 99,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,707,592.73. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,109 shares of company stock worth $3,360,094. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

Nucor stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $138.65. The company had a trading volume of 851,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,541,592. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $31.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a 50 day moving average of $131.80 and a 200-day moving average of $125.94. Nucor Corporation has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $170.52.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.06. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 4.21%. The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Nucor's payout ratio is 39.71%.

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.