Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $42.91 Million Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 285,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 31,173 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Nucor worth $42,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Nucor by 32.1% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,638 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Nucor by 7.7% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,344 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Nucor in the first quarter worth $53,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Nucor by 1.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 250,990 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,676,000 after purchasing an additional 2,855 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Nucor by 4.4% in the first quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 2,103 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Nucor Trading Up 0.1 %

NUE stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $159.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,139,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,541,533. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.51. 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 firm has a market cap of $37.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $133.42 and a twelve month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company's revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.57 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.6 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Nucor's payout ratio is currently 20.87%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, 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 transaction of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,499,436. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,712 shares of company stock worth $3,980,235. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nucor 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.