AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Purchases 9,212 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 747,539 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 9,212 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned 0.31% of Nucor worth $112,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,847,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,050,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 1st quarter worth $325,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 80.5% in the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,296 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:NUE traded down $0.99 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $141.71. 234,396 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,499,279. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $133.42 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 1.55. 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’s fifty day moving average is $147.73 and its 200-day moving average is $157.50.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.65 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.57.

About Nucor

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.