Blueshift Asset Management LLC Sells 2,076 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 41.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,076 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 4.1% in the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Nucor by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 45.6% in the 3rd 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, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in Nucor by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NUE opened at $154.77 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $133.42 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.69. 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 firm has a market cap of $36.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.57 EPS. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction 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. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 in the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on NUE. Argus upgraded Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.