Nucor Corporation $NUE Shares Purchased by Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,685,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,990 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $228,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. IMA Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Nucor by 51.4% during the 2nd quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. AXS Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 81.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in Nucor by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Nucor from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Nucor from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.36.

Nucor Trading Up 3.4%

NYSE:NUE opened at $192.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Nucor Corporation has a one year low of $97.59 and a one year high of $193.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $169.44 and a 200-day moving average of $152.32.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.18). Nucor had a net margin of 5.37% and a return on equity of 8.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 29.71%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP John J. Hollatz sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.88, for a total value of $1,049,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 96,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,470,914. This represents a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.28, for a total value of $330,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,967,106.56. This represents a 10.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 33,899 shares of company stock valued at $5,794,577. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

About Nucor

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.