Field & Main Bank Has $756,000 Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Field & Main Bank cut its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Field & Main Bank’s holdings in Nucor were worth $756,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $883,732,000 after purchasing an additional 74,569 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Nucor by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $519,648,000 after purchasing an additional 571,682 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Nucor by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,612,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $242,381,000 after acquiring an additional 45,467 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.63.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $127.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $129.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.83. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $112.25 and a 1-year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,109,918.96. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,452,524. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.