Baldwin Investment Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Baldwin Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 40.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,285 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,925 shares during the period. Baldwin Investment Management LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Canal Capital Management LLC increased its position in Nucor by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,111,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,157 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 10,528 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, hitting $115.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,083,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,090,704. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $97.59 and a twelve month high of $176.59. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $119.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. Nucor's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on Nucor in a research note on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total transaction of $4,115,065.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,993 shares in the company, valued at $19,590,128.67. The trade was a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.