Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Stock Holdings Increased by Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,792 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 7,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in Nucor by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 3,119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Nucor by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter worth approximately $219,000. Finally, Paradiem LLC increased its holdings in Nucor by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 43,141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,508,000 after buying an additional 12,073 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.14.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE stock traded down $5.54 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $169.70. The stock had a trading volume of 635,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,428,111. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.78. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $129.79 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The company has a current ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 12.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total transaction of $3,772,655.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 120,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,351,936.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.