Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth $108,747,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 13.0% in the 4th 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 period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 7.6% in the 3rd 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 period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Nucor by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,175,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $652,851,000 after purchasing an additional 149,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 23.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 680,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $106,395,000 after purchasing an additional 128,536 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total value of $1,901,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,386,751.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,651 shares of company stock worth $6,283,648 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE:NUE traded up $1.47 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $170.14. 706,096 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,435,971. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 4.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.89. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $129.79 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 1.65.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.