Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 6.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NUE. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Nucor by 132,300.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Nucor by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 1.7% during the first quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 49,946 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,011,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 11.5% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Nucor from $182.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.60.

Nucor Stock Down 1.8%

NUE stock opened at $135.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $31.12 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.75. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.09. Nucor Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $97.59 and a fifty-two week high of $170.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.06. Nucor had a net margin of 4.21% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total transaction of $1,150,050.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 82,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,857,956.14. This trade represents a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,200 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $1,051,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 92,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,458,134. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,309 shares of company stock worth $4,553,771 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Nucor 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.