Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Increases Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 914 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $5,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Nucor by 152.5% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 86,357 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,983,000 after purchasing an additional 52,156 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Nucor by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Nucor by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 35,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 267.4% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 118,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,822,000 after buying an additional 86,279 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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, Argus raised Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.57.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NUE opened at $147.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $133.42 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The stock has a market cap of $34.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $148.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.96.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.87%.

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.