Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Herold Advisors Inc.

Herold Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Herold Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Nucor by 716.7% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Nucor during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 2,410.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE opened at $175.36 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.32. The firm has a market cap of $42.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.61. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $129.79 and a twelve month high of $203.00. 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 (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 12.40%. Nucor’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 80,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,386,751.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total value of $1,901,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 80,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,386,751.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total transaction of $3,772,655.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 120,738 shares in the company, valued at $23,351,936.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,151 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,683 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.