Financial Partners Group LLC Purchases 1,767 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Financial Partners Group LLC boosted its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,322 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,767 shares during the quarter. Financial Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Widmann Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in Nucor by 45.6% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Nucor by 1.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $822,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Nucor by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 5,250 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $789,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Nucor by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $122.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $28.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $112.25 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $131.64 and a 200-day moving average of $143.82.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.57 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.63.

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.