Ellsworth Advisors LLC Purchases 506 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Nucor in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 60.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Up 0.8 %

NUE stock opened at $124.40 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $133.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.40. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on NUE. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.63.

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.