Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in Nucor by 52.8% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 17,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 5,960 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 94.2% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 262,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,665,000 after buying an additional 15,058 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the first quarter valued at about $1,847,000. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 86.2% in the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 12,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,552,000 after buying an additional 5,971 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NUE stock opened at $143.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The firm has a market cap of $34.29 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $150.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.56. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $133.42 and a 1-year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. Nucor’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 9.95 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,840. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NUE shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $176.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.00.

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.