Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at about $53,000. Banco Santander S.A. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 86.2% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 12,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,552,000 after buying an additional 5,971 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,673 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 1st quarter worth about $1,187,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 1st quarter worth about $213,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.57.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NUE stock opened at $147.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $34.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.16. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $133.42 and a one year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio 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.