Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. reduced its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 14.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,872 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NUE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth $377,631,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 1st quarter worth $90,216,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 1st quarter worth $37,395,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 804,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,141,000 after buying an additional 153,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trinity Street Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 2nd quarter worth $19,213,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NUE opened at $147.73 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $139.41 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $154.07 and a 200 day moving average of $172.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.85.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.37. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The company had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 10.57 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $1,379,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,840. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on NUE. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Nucor from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $187.00 to $176.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $194.43.

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.