Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Has $23.91 Million Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 110.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 204,864 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 107,296 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC owned 0.09% of Nucor worth $23,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. InvesTrust acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at $4,388,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC increased its position in Nucor by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 4,073 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in 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 period. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $565,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Nucor by 60.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE NUE traded down $3.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $118.09. 2,359,543 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,229,139. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.33. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $112.25 and a twelve month high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm 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 firm posted $4.57 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This is an increase from Nucor's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NUE. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $165.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.