State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Stock Holdings in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D has reduced its stake in Nucor Corporation by 8.6%, now owning 80,261 shares worth approximately $9.66 million.
• Nucor reported earnings of $2.60 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and its revenue increased by 4.7% year-over-year, totaling $8.46 billion.
• Analysts have a consensus price target of $155.78 for Nucor, with most ratings leaning towards a "Moderate Buy."

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,261 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,558 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Nucor were worth $9,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NUE. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Nucor by 73.5% in 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 acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group reduced 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. 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 note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $155.78.

Nucor Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE:NUE traded down $2.4670 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $143.4430. The company had a trading volume of 1,189,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,728,112. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $137.17 and a 200 day moving average of $127.26. The company has a market cap of $32.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.74. Nucor Corporation has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $170.52.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,857,956.14. This represents a 8.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $1,051,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 92,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,458,134. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,309 shares of company stock worth $5,860,294 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.