Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Position Increased by Crewe Advisors LLC

Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 691.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,308 shares during the quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Widmann Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 4.0% during the third quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in Nucor by 1.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Nucor by 1.7% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $696,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in Nucor by 2.4% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 3,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $556,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Citigroup lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.13.

Nucor Stock Up 1.9 %

NUE opened at $133.33 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $127.56 and a 200-day moving average of $141.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $112.25 and a 1-year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

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.