Capital Wealth Planning LLC Grows Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 156.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,385 shares during the quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,481,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 94.2% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 262,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,665,000 after purchasing an additional 15,058 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Nucor during the first quarter worth $1,847,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in Nucor by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 13,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NUE. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com lowered Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Nucor from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.71.

Nucor Price Performance

Nucor stock traded up $2.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $161.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,414,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,607,640. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 4.02 and a quick ratio of 2.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.57. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $140.07 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $162.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.44.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $8.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.45 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 10.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

Nucor 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.