First United Bank & Trust Reduces Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

First United Bank & Trust lessened its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,060 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,797 shares during the quarter. First United Bank & Trust’s holdings in Nucor were worth $460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,884,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $456,030,000 after buying an additional 660,866 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the 1st quarter worth about $90,216,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Nucor in the 1st quarter worth about $37,395,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 23.5% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 804,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,141,000 after acquiring an additional 153,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trinity Street Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the second quarter valued at approximately $19,213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $1,379,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,840. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on NUE. Bank of America reduced their target price on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Nucor from $176.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Argus upgraded Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Nucor from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.43.

Nucor Stock Down 0.8 %

Nucor stock opened at $151.62 on Wednesday. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $133.42 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market cap of $36.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $146.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.11.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $8.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 10.45%. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 9.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

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.