Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 2.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 306 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Nucor during the first quarter worth about $194,804,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Nucor during the first quarter worth about $141,216,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Nucor by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,959,327 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,484,965,000 after purchasing an additional 745,671 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 355.7% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 539,310 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,327,000 after purchasing an additional 420,970 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Nucor by 18.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,309,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $277,920,000 after purchasing an additional 355,364 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.90, for a total value of $1,449,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 84,080 shares in the company, valued at $12,183,192. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total transaction of $1,150,050.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,309 shares of company stock worth $4,553,771 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Nucor from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.60.

Nucor Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE NUE opened at $136.51 on Thursday. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $170.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $140.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $130.25.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.47 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 4.21% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

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

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.