Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Purchased by Liberty One Investment Management LLC

Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 3.3% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Nucor by 1.6% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 12,890 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Nucor by 9.0% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 220,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,828,000 after purchasing an additional 18,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Nucor during the second quarter worth about $276,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,109,918.96. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $124.40 on Monday. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $112.25 and a twelve month high of $203.00. The stock has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $133.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.40.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.26%.

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.