Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 5,890 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc cut its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 5.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,969 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,890 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Nucor were worth $15,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 18,827 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Nucor by 10.4% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,020,618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $161,340,000 after purchasing an additional 95,870 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Nucor by 91.4% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 55,770 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,816,000 after purchasing an additional 26,638 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Nucor by 29.7% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,884,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $456,030,000 after purchasing an additional 660,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 534,393 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,477,000 after buying an additional 17,523 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on NUE. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Nucor from $176.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $170.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Argus raised shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.00.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE opened at $147.00 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $149.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.61. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $133.42 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.25 billion, a PE ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.55. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.81 earnings per share. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.71%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was 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 owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,840. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.