Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 2,265 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 30.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,256 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,265 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of NUE. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 188.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,537 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,232,000 after purchasing an additional 42,178 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 5.9% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 3.5% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 24,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,926,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank of Raymore raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.0% in the first quarter. Community Bank of Raymore now owns 11,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,300,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 18.1% in the first quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on NUE. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Nucor from $176.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Nucor from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Argus upgraded Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Three equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.43.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $1,379,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,049 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,840. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NUE stock traded down $11.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $145.00. 2,560,480 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,476,714. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $147.74 and its 200-day moving average is $159.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market cap of $34.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $133.42 and a 52 week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 10.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.57 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 12.71%.

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.