Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Decreases Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC decreased its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 22,064 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,276 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $2,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 5,689 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the period. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV raised its stake in Nucor by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 3,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares during the period. Covea Finance purchased a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,836,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at about $163,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of Nucor 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. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 over the last ninety days. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Nucor Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE NUE traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $124.40. 1,842,859 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,239,521. The stock has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $133.52 and a 200 day moving average of $144.48. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $4.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

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

Nucor Company 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.