Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Stock Position Lifted by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 20.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,914 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $3,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total value of $4,115,065.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,590,128.67. This trade represents a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on NUE. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Argus set a $155.00 target price on Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Nucor from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.22.

Nucor Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NUE opened at $121.84 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $97.59 and a one year high of $170.52. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.36.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 39.15%.

Nucor Company 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.