Sapient Capital LLC Invests $1.24 Million in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,120 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,243,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NUE. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $108,747,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Nucor by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,070,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $360,430,000 after acquiring an additional 237,752 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Nucor by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,262,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,794,000 after acquiring an additional 159,230 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Nucor by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,175,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $652,851,000 after acquiring an additional 149,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Nucor by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 680,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $106,395,000 after acquiring an additional 128,536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on NUE. StockNews.com cut shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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, April 24th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 80,902 shares in the company, valued at $15,386,751.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,153.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares in the company, valued at $15,386,751.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,651 shares of company stock valued at $6,283,648. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nucor Trading Up 2.0 %

Nucor stock traded up $3.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $173.92. 1,054,672 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,443,490. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.86. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $129.79 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 4.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released 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). Nucor had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 12.40%. The firm had revenue of $8.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 12.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

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.