TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Busey Bank lifted its position in Nucor by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Busey Bank now owns 79,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,262,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 89.4% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 27,160 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,170,000 after purchasing an additional 12,819 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $84,000. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on NUE. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 5.43 % 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, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,680 shares of company stock worth $3,452,524. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nucor Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NUE stock opened at $128.39 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $128.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. Research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.16%.

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.