Sowell Financial Services LLC Takes Position in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $623,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 65.9% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,375 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Nucor by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 314,037 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,651,000 after buying an additional 28,622 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Nucor by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 35,988 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,200,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Jessup Wealth Management Inc increased its position in shares of Nucor by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 10,528 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total value of $4,115,065.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,590,128.67. This trade represents a 17.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NUE shares. Argus set a $155.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.56.

Nucor Stock Down 1.7%

NUE stock traded down $2.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $124.08. 4,984,884 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,233,362. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $116.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.94. Nucor Corporation has a 12-month low of $97.59 and a 12-month high of $170.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a return on equity of 6.82% and a net margin of 4.40%. The company had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.15%.

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.