Cornerstone Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 6,000 Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,187,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Spirepoint Private Client LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the first quarter valued at $839,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its stake in Nucor by 26.4% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,673 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 89.7% during the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 58,309 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,539,000 after buying an additional 27,576 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 86.2% during the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 12,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,552,000 after buying an additional 5,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1ST Source Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 8,918 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,765,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Nucor stock traded down $3.17 on Friday, hitting $162.50. 1,564,536 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,606,451. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 4.02 and a quick ratio of 2.48. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $140.07 and a one year high of $203.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $161.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.96 billion, a PE ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 1.57.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by ($0.16). Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The firm had revenue of $8.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on NUE. StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.29.

About Nucor

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.