Qsemble Capital Management LP Grows Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 46.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,841 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,012 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP's holdings in Nucor were worth $2,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor by 129.0% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the third quarter worth $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the third quarter worth $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in Nucor during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in Nucor by 45.6% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Up 0.4 %

Nucor stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $154.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,728,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,559,295. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $150.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.67. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $133.42 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The stock has a market cap of $36.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued 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 analysts' expectations of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. Nucor's quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.57 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Nucor's payout ratio is 20.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus raised Nucor to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities 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.com, Nucor presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $190.57.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % 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 in the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.