Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases 10,781 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 9.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 130,555 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 10,781 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.06% of Nucor worth $19,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.1% in the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,630 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Widmann Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Nucor by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,457 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nucor Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE NUE traded down $2.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $138.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,081,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,566,551. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.55. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $150.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.57 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is a boost from Nucor's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $190.50.

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.