Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Acquires 107,296 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 110.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 204,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 107,296 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $23,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the third quarter worth about $30,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 769.2% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NUE shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.63.

Nucor Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE traded down $3.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $117.92. The stock had a trading volume of 888,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,005,493. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.33. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $112.25 and a twelve month high of $203.00. The firm has a market cap of $27.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.57 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 21.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.