Invesco Ltd. Sells 85,769 Shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has reduced its stake in Nucor Corporation by 3.5%, selling 85,769 shares and holding 2,349,496 shares, valued at approximately $282.74 million.
• Several institutional investors have recently acquired stakes in Nucor, increasing total institutional ownership to 76.48%.
• Nucor's latest earnings report showed a quarterly EPS of $2.60, beating expectations, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its stake in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,349,496 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 85,769 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.02% of Nucor worth $282,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Nucor to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $155.78.

Nucor Stock Up 0.8%

NUE stock traded up $1.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $145.49. 2,177,819 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,710,382. The firm's 50 day moving average is $135.77 and its 200 day moving average is $126.91. Nucor Corporation has a twelve month low of $97.59 and a twelve month high of $170.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $33.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.74.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.47 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 4.21%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is 39.71%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total value of $1,150,050.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 82,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,857,956.14. This represents a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total value of $906,342.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 99,379 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 25,109 shares of company stock valued at $3,360,094 over the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.