Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Bought by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 445,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 27,509 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.18% of Nucor worth $77,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Nucor by 716.7% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 2,410.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Nucor news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following 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 sold 32,651 shares of company stock worth $6,283,648 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NUE. Citigroup raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.14.

Nucor Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $173.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 4.02 and a quick ratio of 2.48. The stock has a market cap of $41.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 1.65. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $129.79 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $189.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.86.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The firm had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.45 EPS. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 12.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s payout ratio is 12.71%.

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.