Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Stake Raised by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 74,569 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.50% of Nucor worth $883,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 8,530.1% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $239,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,695 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Nucor by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,884,802 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $456,030,000 after buying an additional 660,866 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth $74,829,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Nucor by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Nucor by 14,525.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 326,889 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,144,000 after buying an additional 324,654 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus raised Nucor to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reissued 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Four investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $183.75.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE NUE traded down $7.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $131.42. The company had a trading volume of 2,698,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,571,270. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $130.65 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The firm has a market cap of $30.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.98.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.57 EPS. Nucor's quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.55 dividend. This is a boost from Nucor's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.64% 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.