Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Pittenger & Anderson Inc.

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lessened its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $326,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,175,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $652,851,000 after buying an additional 149,589 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 7.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,262,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,794,000 after buying an additional 159,230 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,070,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $360,430,000 after buying an additional 237,752 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,463,589 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $228,832,000 after buying an additional 11,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Nucor by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,094,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $190,376,000 after purchasing an additional 22,596 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nucor news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total value of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,151 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,683 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.14.

Nucor Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:NUE traded up $3.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $175.88. 1,622,918 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,443,328. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 4.02 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market cap of $42.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.17.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by ($0.16). Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The business had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.71%.

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.