Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Custom Index Systems LLC

Custom Index Systems LLC lessened its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 401 shares during the quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Widmann Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in 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 period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $822,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 5,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $789,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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 note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.63.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at $13,636,254.72. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at $29,109,918.96. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,680 shares of company stock worth $3,452,524. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nucor Trading Down 0.2 %

NUE opened at $128.39 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $128.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

Nucor Company 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.