Affinity Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Affinity Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,985 shares during the period. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Nucor by 94.2% during the first quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 2.1% in the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Nucor by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 45.6% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Finally, Argus raised shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.57.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NUE opened at $143.56 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $133.42 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $34.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.57 earnings per share. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at $14,499,436. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.