Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 6,762 Shares of Nucor Corporation $NUE

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 278,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,762 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $45,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Krilogy Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in Nucor by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 5.6% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 1.9% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Nucor by 23.2% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NUE. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $190.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.80.

Nucor Stock Up 0.3%

Nucor stock opened at $227.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.90 and a quick ratio of 1.55. Nucor Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $106.21 and a fifty-two week high of $235.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $184.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.28.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.88 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 13.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.18%.

Nucor declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to reacquire up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,096 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.08, for a total transaction of $2,282,503.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 62,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,213,875.68. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Noah C. Hanners sold 6,472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total transaction of $1,465,908.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 50,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,410,390.50. This represents a 11.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 76,770 shares of company stock valued at $17,132,834 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Company Profile

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.