Polianta Ltd Buys 2,600 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Polianta Ltd lifted its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 33.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 2,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 1,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $340,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $390,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $255,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on NUE shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Four equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.63.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $124.40 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $112.25 and a twelve 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 company has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s 50 day moving average is $133.52 and its 200 day moving average is $144.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.57 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.26%.

Nucor 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.