Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 3,568 Shares of Nucor Corporation $NUE

Key Points

• Verdence Capital Advisors LLC has increased its stake in Nucor Corporation by 78.1%, acquiring an additional 3,568 shares, which now brings its total holdings to 8,134 shares valued at approximately $1,054,000.
• Analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Nucor, with Jefferies Financial Group raising their estimate to $170.00 while Wells Fargo lowered it to $140.00.
• Nucor declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.6%, with the payout date set for November 10th.

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 78.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,134 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,568 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $1,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,959,327 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,484,965,000 after purchasing an additional 745,671 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Nucor by 18.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,309,452 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $277,920,000 after purchasing an additional 355,364 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor by 5.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,772,831 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $213,342,000 after purchasing an additional 92,363 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Nucor in the first quarter worth $194,804,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Nucor by 16.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,610,933 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $193,863,000 after purchasing an additional 226,343 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $182.00 to $173.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $157.60.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock opened at $136.82 on Tuesday. Nucor Corporation has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $170.52. The company has a market cap of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $141.24 and a 200 day moving average of $129.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

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

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 39.71%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other Nucor news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total value of $903,520.08. Following the sale, the insider owned 22,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,333,882.24. This represents a 21.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.90, for a total transaction of $1,449,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 84,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,183,192. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,309 shares of company stock valued at $4,553,771 in the last three months. Corporate 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.

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