Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 12.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,313 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 13,421 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Nucor were worth $14,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 94.2% in the first quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 208.0% in the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Nucor from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $187.00 to $176.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.43.

Nucor Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NUE traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $138.79. 1,310,681 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,457,170. The company has a market cap of $33.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.17 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $137.91 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $152.27 and its 200-day moving average is $169.39.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $8.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 9.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $1,379,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,840. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.