Cypress Capital Group Reduces Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Cypress Capital Group decreased its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,754 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 591 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Nucor were worth $865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 1,761.5% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 3,146 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 2,977 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 44.6% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the first quarter worth about $1,111,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 35.7% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 24.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 18,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,749,000 after buying an additional 3,699 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Up 1.2 %

Nucor stock opened at $149.99 on Friday. 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 quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. The firm has a market cap of $35.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $149.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.33.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.57 EPS. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 20.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NUE shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Argus upgraded Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.57.

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.