Synovus Financial Corp Boosts Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 833 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NUE. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Nucor by 2.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Nucor by 3.2% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 652,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $98,097,000 after buying an additional 20,258 shares in the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Nucor during the third quarter valued at $681,000. Ascension Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Nucor during the second quarter worth about $885,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Nucor in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,655,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $125.25 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $125.00 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $149.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.57 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.26%.

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.