Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 6.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,416 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,814 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $13,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in Nucor during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 45.6% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised shares of Nucor to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, 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 research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $190.57.

Nucor Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NUE stock traded up $1.82 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $149.99. 1,691,925 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,554,785. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $133.42 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $149.32 and a 200 day moving average of $154.36. The firm has a market cap of $35.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17 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.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company 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 business posted $4.57 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Nucor's payout ratio is 20.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the firm'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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the business'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 owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.