State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Stake in Nucor Corporation $NUE

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 77,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,277 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Nucor were worth $10,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NUE. Matrix Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 53.8% in the second quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 240 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 81.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 209.6% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 49.8% in the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 442 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proathlete Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NUE shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on Nucor from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a research report on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Nucor from $182.00 to $173.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Nucor from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total value of $1,051,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 6,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total value of $903,520.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,333,882.24. The trade was a 21.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,309 shares of company stock valued at $4,553,771. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $138.79 on Friday. Nucor Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $97.59 and a fifty-two week high of $170.52. The stock has a market cap of $31.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $140.44 and a 200-day moving average of $130.92. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 4.21%.The company had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid 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 is presently 39.71%.

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.