Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 287,136 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 97,272 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.12% of Nucor worth $45,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $377,631,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the first quarter valued at approximately $90,216,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,395,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Nucor by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 804,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,141,000 after purchasing an additional 153,077 shares during the period. Finally, Trinity Street Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $19,213,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Down 0.5 %

Nucor stock opened at $142.92 on Tuesday. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $133.42 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.06.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.81 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 9.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley raised Nucor from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $187.00 to $176.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

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

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.