Commerce Bank Purchases 758 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,344 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 84,558 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 period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Nucor by 3.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,160,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $341,580,000 after purchasing an additional 67,974 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Nucor by 8,530.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $239,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,695 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Nucor by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,283,111 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $192,902,000 after buying an additional 262,493 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $151.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $35.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.07.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.57 earnings per share. Nucor’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 over the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.57.

Nucor 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.