Arkadios Wealth Advisors Sells 347 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Arkadios Wealth Advisors trimmed its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 347 shares during the quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Nucor were worth $299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This trade represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NUE. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.63.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock opened at $122.10 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $131.64 and its 200-day moving average is $143.82. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s payout ratio is 21.26%.

Nucor Company 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.