Front Street Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Front Street Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 101,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Nucor makes up 3.1% of Front Street Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Front Street Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $16,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 29.7% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,884,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $456,030,000 after buying an additional 660,866 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the first quarter worth about $90,216,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the first quarter worth about $37,395,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 23.5% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 804,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,141,000 after buying an additional 153,077 shares during the period. Finally, Trinity Street Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Nucor during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $19,213,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Argus raised Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Nucor from $176.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.00.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,840. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE opened at $147.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $149.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.93. The stock has a market cap of $35.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $133.42 and a one year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $8.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.69 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 10.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.81 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 9.95 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

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.