Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Perigon Wealth Management LLC

Perigon Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 102 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NUE. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 15,470.4% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 4,177 shares in the last quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 716.7% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $192.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.06. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $129.79 and a twelve month high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 3.57.

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

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 12.01%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total transaction of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total value of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 120,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,351,936.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 in the last 90 days. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NUE. Citigroup upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Nucor from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Nucor in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.83.

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.