Quest Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Quest Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Pension Service raised its holdings in Nucor by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 652,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $98,097,000 after buying an additional 20,258 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 52.8% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 17,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 5,960 shares in the last quarter. Ascension Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Nucor in the second quarter worth about $885,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,655,000. Finally, DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor in the second quarter worth $728,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the company’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 value of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nucor Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $154.77 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $150.47 and its 200 day moving average is $153.69. The company has a market cap of $36.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $133.42 and a twelve month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.87%.

About Nucor

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.