7,100 Shares in Nucor Corporation $NUE Bought by Payden & Rygel

Payden & Rygel bought a new stake in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 7,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $962,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 0.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,171,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,778,820,000 after buying an additional 211,741 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Nucor by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,501,779 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,626,321,000 after acquiring an additional 371,911 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in Nucor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $856,792,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Nucor during the second quarter valued at approximately $479,858,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 2.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,892,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $255,155,000 after purchasing an additional 36,323 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Nucor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes $4.0 billion share repurchase (up to ~9.7% of shares), signalling management believes shares are undervalued and should boost EPS/return of capital; supportive for the stock. RTT News: Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Declared regular quarterly dividend of $0.56 (212th consecutive quarterly payout); payable May 11 to shareholders of record Mar 31. Dividend continuity reduces investor uncertainty and underscores free-cash-flow discipline (annualized yield ~1.2%). PR Newswire: Dividend & Repurchase Program
• Neutral Sentiment: Promotion of John L. “Jack” Sullivan to CFO, Treasurer & EVP — internal hire (Treasurer) that preserves continuity in finance leadership; reduces execution risk vs. an external hire but market impact depends on investors’ view of his track record. PR Newswire: CFO Promotion
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage piece on analyst sentiment — some Wall Street commentary is bullish, but investors should weigh recent fundamentals (Nucor missed EPS and revenue in its Jan quarter) against the new buyback/dividend actions. Yahoo Finance: Analyst Coverage

Nucor Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $179.91 on Monday. Nucor Corporation has a twelve month low of $97.59 and a twelve month high of $196.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $174.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.54. The firm has a market cap of $41.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.86.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $7.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 8.26% and a net margin of 5.37%.Nucor’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 3,881 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.00, for a total transaction of $690,818.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 88,298 shares in the company, valued at $15,717,044. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 2,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.28, for a total transaction of $330,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,967,106.56. The trade was a 10.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,351 shares of company stock valued at $6,206,158. 0.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on NUE shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Nucor from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Nucor from $182.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $183.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.36.

Nucor Company Profile

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.