Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 45,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,434 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $7,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 127,059.1% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,232,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,461,138,000 after acquiring an additional 155,109,984 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Nucor by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,247,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $559,880,000 after buying an additional 979,824 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,725,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,747,000. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 21,987.3% during the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 528,992 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,899,000 after buying an additional 526,597 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NUE. UBS Group began coverage on Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Nucor from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.83.

Nucor Trading Down 1.0 %

NUE opened at $190.77 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $191.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.32. The company has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 1.61. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $129.79 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $7.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.64 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 13.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.89 EPS. Analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 12.01%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 120,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,351,936.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total value of $1,901,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,386,751.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,351,936.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,151 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,683 in the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.