Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 41.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,240 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 661 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the first quarter worth $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 94.2% in the 1st quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Nucor by 208.0% during the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the first quarter worth about $31,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NUE opened at $151.92 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.79. The company has a market cap of $36.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $139.41 and a twelve month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 10.57 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 12.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut their price target on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Nucor from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $187.00 to $176.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $194.43.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $1,379,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,049 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,840. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

About Nucor

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.