Axa S.A. Grows Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Axa S.A. boosted its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 88.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,397 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 38,200 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $12,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 30.3% in the second quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 5.2% in the second quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in Nucor by 57.1% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 46,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,290,000 after acquiring an additional 16,762 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Nucor by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 249,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,522,000 after acquiring an additional 7,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $150.10 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $133.42 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $148.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 9.28 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NUE. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Argus raised shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $176.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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 report on Monday, September 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.00.

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.