BTS Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,187 Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

BTS Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,187 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Nucor during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 45.6% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Nucor by 60.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $124.40 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $133.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.57. The stock has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a PE 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. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $112.25 and a 52 week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The company 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 21.26%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value 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. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on NUE. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.