Bleakley Financial Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Nucor by 127,059.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,232,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,461,138,000 after buying an additional 155,109,984 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 0.4% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,438,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $841,209,000 after acquiring an additional 23,366 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Nucor by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,247,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $559,880,000 after acquiring an additional 979,824 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,175,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $652,851,000 after acquiring an additional 149,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 7.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,262,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,794,000 after purchasing an additional 159,230 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total transaction of $1,901,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,386,751.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total value of $1,025,035.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total transaction of $1,901,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,386,751.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nucor Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $197.26 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $129.79 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The company has a market capitalization of $47.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $190.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.02.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 13.03%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NUE shares. Citigroup upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.67.

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.