J2 Capital Management Inc Acquires New Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Nucor by 8,530.1% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,819,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576,695 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Nucor by 29.7% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,884,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $456,030,000 after purchasing an additional 660,866 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at $74,829,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NUE stock opened at $124.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $112.25 and a 1-year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 in the last ninety days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.63.

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.