Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) Shares Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 243.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 77,606 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 55,026 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Nucor were worth $9,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Nucor by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,967,254 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $701,255,000 after acquiring an additional 105,309 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $398,077,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 18.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,404,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $280,627,000 after purchasing an additional 474,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,680,468 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $196,127,000 after purchasing an additional 68,252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total transaction of $906,342.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,707,592.73. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,993 shares in the company, valued at $19,590,128.67. The trade was a 17.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Nucor Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:NUE traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $131.75. The stock had a trading volume of 2,860,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,230,536. Nucor Corporation has a one year low of $97.59 and a one year high of $170.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $118.18 and a 200 day moving average of $122.08. The company has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.67. 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 (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 6.82%. The company had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on NUE. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Argus set a $155.00 price target on Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $150.00.

About Nucor

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.