Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $3.87 Million Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $3,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Nucor by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 108,428 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,129,000 after buying an additional 5,763 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the second quarter worth approximately $1,651,000. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 20.3% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Nucor by 46.0% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $143.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.29 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $133.42 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.56.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.37. Nucor had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 10.45%. The business had revenue of $8.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 9.95 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 12.71%.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $1,379,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,840. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $170.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Nucor from $176.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.00.

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.