Inspire Investing LLC Sells 7,204 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Inspire Investing LLC cut its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,204 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $3,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Nucor by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,909,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $617,915,000 after purchasing an additional 84,558 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Nucor by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,367,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $237,949,000 after buying an additional 85,475 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Nucor by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,165,094 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $230,572,000 after acquiring an additional 70,917 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,069,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $169,433,000 after acquiring an additional 111,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 804,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,141,000 after acquiring an additional 153,077 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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 accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE NUE opened at $143.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $34.29 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $133.42 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $150.15 and a 200-day moving average of $166.56. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.37. Nucor had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 10.45%. The firm had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 9.95 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s payout ratio is 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.