First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Lowers Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 696 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Nucor by 60.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,680 shares of company stock worth $3,452,524. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NUE shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.63.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $121.98 on Tuesday. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $112.25 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $28.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.34. 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, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.26%.

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.