Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. Acquires 1,374 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. boosted its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $3,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $883,732,000 after acquiring an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after acquiring an additional 571,682 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Nucor by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,160,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $341,580,000 after acquiring an additional 67,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Nucor by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $124.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $112.25 and a 52-week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.63.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.