Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Barings LLC

Key Points

• Barings LLC decreased its holdings in Nucor Corporation by 19.2%, owning 44,646 shares worth $5.37 million after selling 10,596 shares in the first quarter.
• Nucor recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.60 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a revenue increase of 4.7% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55, which translates to an annualized dividend yield of 1.6% with a payout ratio of approximately 39.71%.

Barings LLC lowered its position in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 19.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,646 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 10,596 shares during the quarter. Barings LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $5,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 73.5% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 281 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the first quarter worth about $48,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total value of $906,342.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,707,592.73. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total transaction of $1,150,050.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 82,703 shares in the company, valued at $11,857,956.14. This trade represents a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,109 shares of company stock worth $3,360,094 in the last 90 days. 0.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $157.13.

Nucor Trading Down 1.1%

NUE traded down $1.57 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $137.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,190,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,563,481. Nucor Corporation has a 52-week low of $97.59 and a 52-week high of $170.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $130.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.76. The firm has a market cap of $31.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.06. Nucor had a net margin of 4.21% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. Nucor's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.71%.

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.