Park Avenue Securities LLC Has $903,000 Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $118.45 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $170.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $114.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.02. The company has a market capitalization of $27.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.68.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. The business had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 39.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total transaction of $4,115,065.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,590,128.67. The trade was a 17.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Nucor from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.22.

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.