Crews Bank & Trust Invests $29,000 in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Busey Bank raised its position in shares of Nucor by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Busey Bank now owns 79,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,262,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its position in Nucor by 89.4% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 27,160 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,170,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $84,000. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nucor by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 9,596 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:NUE opened at $128.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $128.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.37. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. 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 objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,452,524. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.