Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Buys Shares of 39,000 Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 39,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $4,552,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Nucor

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group upgraded Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Argus set a $155.00 target price on Nucor in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $160.33.

Nucor Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:NUE traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $115.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,832,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,106,004. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $97.59 and a 12-month high of $176.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market cap of $26.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73. The company's 50 day moving average is $117.98 and its 200-day moving average is $128.81.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted 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 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. The company had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. Nucor's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is 39.15%.

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.