Czech National Bank Boosts Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Nucor were worth $5,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 46.0% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Nucor by 4.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Nucor by 20.3% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,651,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 108,428 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,129,000 after buying an additional 5,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:NUE opened at $121.73 on Wednesday. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $112.25 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The firm has a market cap of $28.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $135.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.10.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.63.

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.