Cetera Investment Advisers Sells 3,618 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Cetera Investment Advisers trimmed its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 102,304 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,618 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Nucor were worth $16,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Nucor by 94.2% during the 1st quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its holdings in Nucor by 208.0% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Nucor in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $176.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped 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, September 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $151.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $147.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.99. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $133.42 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $36.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.81 earnings per share. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 9.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

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.