Swiss National Bank Decreases Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 777,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 29,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.32% of Nucor worth $135,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 716.7% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 2,410.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 120,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,351,936.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,651 shares of company stock worth $6,283,648. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NUE shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.14.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE stock opened at $173.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 4.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $189.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 1.65. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $129.79 and a 1 year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $8.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 12.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 12.55 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 12.71%.

Nucor 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.