Advisors Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 9.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,224 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $3,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in Nucor by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 16,344 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,457,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,980,000. Counterweight Ventures LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 14,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,123,000 after acquiring an additional 2,312 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Nucor during the third quarter valued at about $1,481,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % 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 over the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.57.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $151.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $149.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.07. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $133.42 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $35.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.57 earnings per share. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.87%.

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.