BTS Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

BTS Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,187 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $883,732,000 after acquiring an additional 74,569 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 19.8% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $519,648,000 after buying an additional 571,682 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Nucor by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,160,803 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $341,580,000 after acquiring an additional 67,974 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on NUE. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $163.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE traded up $1.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $124.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,842,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,239,521. The company has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. The company's fifty day moving average price is $133.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.48. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $112.25 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.57 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nucor's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.26%.

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.