Federated Hermes Inc. Trims Holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in Nucor Corporation by 4.3%, owning 75,184 shares valued at approximately $9 million after selling 3,352 shares in the first quarter.
• Other institutional investors, including Cozad Asset Management and Meeder Asset Management, have increased their holdings significantly, indicating strong institutional interest in Nucor.
• Nucor announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.6%, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 4.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,184 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,352 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Nucor were worth $9,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NUE. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Nucor by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 251,364 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,337,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Nucor by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 14,014 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,636,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. grew its position in shares of Nucor by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 1,845 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,213,000. Finally, Aviva PLC grew its position in shares of Nucor by 164.9% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 143,060 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $16,697,000 after acquiring an additional 89,059 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NUE shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $157.13.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE traded down $4.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $138.67. 1,721,015 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,879,863. The company has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.74. Nucor Corporation has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $170.52. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $130.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total transaction of $906,342.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,707,592.73. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total value of $1,303,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,265,209.60. This trade represents a 9.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.71% 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.