J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Acquires New Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,175,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $652,851,000 after buying an additional 149,589 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,262,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,794,000 after buying an additional 159,230 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,070,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $360,430,000 after buying an additional 237,752 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,463,589 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $228,832,000 after buying an additional 11,541 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,094,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $190,376,000 after buying an additional 22,596 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total transaction of $3,772,655.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 120,738 shares in the company, valued at $23,351,936.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nucor Price Performance

Nucor stock opened at $175.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 1.61. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $129.79 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 4.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50 day moving average is $190.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.19.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $8.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 12.40%. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NUE. Citigroup raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $193.14.

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.