Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 38.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,752 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 7,491 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $3,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 73.5% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the first quarter valued at $48,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total transaction of $906,342.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,707,592.73. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total value of $1,303,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 94,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. This represents a 9.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 51,326 shares of company stock worth $6,325,108. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $140.64 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $125.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.07. Nucor Corporation has a twelve month low of $97.59 and a twelve month high of $170.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.02, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.70.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a return on equity of 6.82% and a net margin of 4.40%. The firm had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised Nucor from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $152.75.

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.