Point72 Europe London LLP Purchases New Shares in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 26,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,058,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $398,077,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Nucor by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,404,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $280,627,000 after purchasing an additional 474,274 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 528.6% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 507,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,235,000 after purchasing an additional 426,949 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Nucor by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,435,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $284,220,000 after buying an additional 384,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $38,714,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $117.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $27.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $176.59. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.03.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. Nucor’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 39.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total transaction of $4,115,065.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 162,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,590,128.67. This represents a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NUE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com lowered Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.33.

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.