Opinicus Capital Inc. Invests $203,000 in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Opinicus Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 3,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 4,168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in Nucor by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,066 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NUE. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,738 shares in the company, valued at $23,351,936.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nucor Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NUE stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $175.42. 1,253,895 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,285,448. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $129.79 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 4.02. The company has a market capitalization of $42.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.45.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). Nucor had a return on equity of 19.62% and a net margin of 12.40%. The firm had revenue of $8.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s payout ratio is 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.