Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 129.0% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth $26,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 769.2% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $147.08 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.16. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $133.42 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The firm has a market cap of $34.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21 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) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 20.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,499,436. The trade was a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.57.

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.