Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Takes $26,000 Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Nucor by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,884,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $456,030,000 after acquiring an additional 660,866 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth $74,829,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 14,525.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 326,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,144,000 after acquiring an additional 324,654 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the first quarter worth $37,395,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 23.5% during the first 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. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.57.

Nucor Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $146.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.22. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $133.42 and a 1 year high of $203.00. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.87%.

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.