Everence Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 4,840 Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,840 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $565,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new stake in Nucor during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 60.3% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reaffirmed 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, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four 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, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $173.75.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE traded up $0.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $115.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,080,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,732,355. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $139.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. Nucor's revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.48 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from Nucor's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.