CenterBook Partners LP Takes Position in Nucor Corporation $NUE

CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $925,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. IMA Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 51.4% during the second quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. AXS Investments LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC lifted its position in Nucor by 281.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC now owns 271 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 45.5% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Nucor

Here are the key news stories impacting Nucor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes $4.0 billion share repurchase (up to ~9.7% of shares), signalling management believes shares are undervalued and should boost EPS/return of capital; supportive for the stock. RTT News: Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Declared regular quarterly dividend of $0.56 (212th consecutive quarterly payout); payable May 11 to shareholders of record Mar 31. Dividend continuity reduces investor uncertainty and underscores free-cash-flow discipline (annualized yield ~1.2%). PR Newswire: Dividend & Repurchase Program
• Neutral Sentiment: Promotion of John L. “Jack” Sullivan to CFO, Treasurer & EVP — internal hire (Treasurer) that preserves continuity in finance leadership; reduces execution risk vs. an external hire but market impact depends on investors’ view of his track record. PR Newswire: CFO Promotion
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage piece on analyst sentiment — some Wall Street commentary is bullish, but investors should weigh recent fundamentals (Nucor missed EPS and revenue in its Jan quarter) against the new buyback/dividend actions. Yahoo Finance: Analyst Coverage

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.28, for a total value of $330,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,952 shares in the company, valued at $2,967,106.56. The trade was a 10.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 7,452 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.02, for a total value of $1,460,741.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 76,628 shares in the company, valued at $15,020,620.56. This trade represents a 8.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 34,351 shares of company stock worth $6,206,158 in the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $180.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners upped their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.36.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $179.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $174.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.31. Nucor Corporation has a 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $196.90. The firm has a market cap of $41.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.86.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.18). Nucor had a net margin of 5.37% and a return on equity of 8.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 29.71%.

Nucor Profile

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.