Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp reduced its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 74.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,992 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Nucor were worth $652,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keybank National Association OH grew its position in Nucor by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 19,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,009,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $3,481,000. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in Nucor by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 13,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 4,592 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $1,230,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 871 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on NUE. StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group started coverage on Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.14.

Nucor Trading Down 1.1 %

NUE stock opened at $172.76 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $129.79 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The stock has a market cap of $41.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.61. The business’s 50-day moving average is $191.04 and its 200 day moving average is $174.17.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). Nucor had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 12.40%. The firm had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total transaction of $1,901,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,386,751.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,151 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,683 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.