Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Makes New Investment in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,677 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,004,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 129.0% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new stake in Nucor during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 769.2% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised Nucor to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $183.75.

Nucor Stock Down 4.7 %

NYSE NUE traded down $6.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $125.25. 2,790,702 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,576,326. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $125.00 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.40. 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 capitalization of $29.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.57 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Nucor's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.