Eastern Bank Has $266,000 Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,283 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Nucor were worth $266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NUE. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth $26,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.63.

Nucor Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $121.73 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $112.25 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $28.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $135.85 and its 200 day moving average is $145.10.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 21.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.