CenterBook Partners LP Makes New Investment in Nucor Corporation $NUE

CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $925,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Nucor by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,171,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,778,820,000 after purchasing an additional 211,741 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 3.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,501,779 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,626,321,000 after buying an additional 371,911 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the second quarter worth approximately $856,792,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $479,858,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Nucor by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,892,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $255,155,000 after acquiring an additional 36,323 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Key Nucor News

Here are the key news stories impacting Nucor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes $4.0 billion share repurchase (up to ~9.7% of shares), signalling management believes shares are undervalued and should boost EPS/return of capital; supportive for the stock. RTT News: Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Declared regular quarterly dividend of $0.56 (212th consecutive quarterly payout); payable May 11 to shareholders of record Mar 31. Dividend continuity reduces investor uncertainty and underscores free-cash-flow discipline (annualized yield ~1.2%). PR Newswire: Dividend & Repurchase Program
• Neutral Sentiment: Promotion of John L. “Jack” Sullivan to CFO, Treasurer & EVP — internal hire (Treasurer) that preserves continuity in finance leadership; reduces execution risk vs. an external hire but market impact depends on investors’ view of his track record. PR Newswire: CFO Promotion
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage piece on analyst sentiment — some Wall Street commentary is bullish, but investors should weigh recent fundamentals (Nucor missed EPS and revenue in its Jan quarter) against the new buyback/dividend actions. Yahoo Finance: Analyst Coverage

Nucor Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE NUE opened at $179.91 on Friday. Nucor Corporation has a one year low of $97.59 and a one year high of $196.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.94. The company has a market capitalization of $41.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $7.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 5.37% and a return on equity of 8.26%. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to purchase up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is 29.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 7,452 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.02, for a total transaction of $1,460,741.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 76,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,020,620.56. This represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.28, for a total transaction of $330,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,952 shares in the company, valued at $2,967,106.56. This represents a 10.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,351 shares of company stock valued at $6,206,158. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Nucor from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $180.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners lifted their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.36.

Nucor Profile

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.