United Asset Strategies Inc. Raises Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NUE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Nucor by 2.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,909,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $617,915,000 after buying an additional 84,558 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 660,866 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Nucor by 3.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,160,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $341,580,000 after acquiring an additional 67,974 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Nucor by 6.5% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,165,094 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $230,572,000 after acquiring an additional 70,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 11.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,069,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $169,433,000 after acquiring an additional 111,177 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE traded down $1.53 during trading on Thursday, reaching $141.17. 265,384 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,499,426. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $133.42 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.50. The company has a market cap of $33.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.65 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s payout ratio is 20.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Nucor Company 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.