R Squared Ltd Buys Shares of 720 Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 720 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Widmann Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Nucor by 4.0% in the third quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 45.6% in the 3rd 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 during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Nucor by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $822,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Nucor by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 5,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $789,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Nucor by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $696,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,109,918.96. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,452,524 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $128.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 21.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NUE. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.63.

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.