Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Takes $162,000 Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 1,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Nucor in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in Nucor in the third quarter worth $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Nucor by 60.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,680 shares of company stock worth $3,452,524. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NUE shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.63.

Nucor Stock Up 0.3 %

NUE stock opened at $126.88 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 21.26%.

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.