Royal Bank of Canada Has $51.79 Million Position in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has reduced its stake in Nucor Corporation by 34.1%, leaving it with approximately 0.19% ownership, valued at $51.79 million after selling 223,037 shares.
• Nucor's profitability has been consistent, reporting $2.60 EPS for the last quarter, which exceeded analysts' estimates of $2.54 EPS, along with a 4.7% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55, which equates to an annualized dividend yield of 1.5%, indicating a healthy payout ratio of 39.71%.

Royal Bank of Canada lowered its position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 34.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 430,357 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 223,037 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.19% of Nucor worth $51,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NUE. AXA S.A. increased its position in shares of Nucor by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 22,522 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,629,000 after purchasing an additional 11,628 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at $333,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Nucor by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 114,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $13,376,000 after purchasing an additional 12,426 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Nucor by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 863,909 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $100,827,000 after purchasing an additional 46,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Nucor by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 15,941 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE:NUE traded down $2.87 on Tuesday, reaching $141.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,689,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,374,603. Nucor Corporation has a 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $170.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.83. The firm has a market cap of $32.40 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.76. The business's 50-day moving average price is $142.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.27.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.68 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Nucor's payout ratio is presently 39.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Nucor to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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 for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total transaction of $1,150,050.98. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total value of $1,303,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,265,209.60. This represents a 9.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,397 shares of company stock valued at $6,763,814 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.

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.