Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co Has $2.87 Million Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 29.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 19,037 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,345 shares during the quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co's holdings in Nucor were worth $2,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the third quarter worth $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Nucor in the third quarter worth $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of NUE stock traded down $7.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $131.42. The company had a trading volume of 2,698,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,571,270. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $130.65 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $150.05 and a 200 day moving average of $151.98. The firm has a market cap of $30.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $7.44 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. This is a boost from Nucor's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor's payout ratio is currently 20.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NUE. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 report on Wednesday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $183.75.

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.