Northern Trust Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its shareholding in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 2.0%, now owning 3,267,418 shares valued at approximately $393 million.
• Several institutions have adjusted their positions, including new stakes from Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors and Putney Financial Group, along with a 73.5% increase in holdings by MV Capital Management.
• Analysts have shown optimism with most ratings being a Buy or Outperform, reflecting an average target price increase to approximately $155.78 as of recent evaluations.

Northern Trust Corp lowered its position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,267,418 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 65,926 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.42% of Nucor worth $393,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,512 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 2,296 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 4,117 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,962 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 22.7% during the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 617 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Nucor to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $155.78.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NUE traded up $1.5650 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $149.4950. 363,482 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,435,028. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $138.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.38. The company has a market cap of $34.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $170.52.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.71%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, 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 value of $1,150,050.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 82,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,857,956.14. This represents a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total value of $1,303,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. This represents a 9.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,309 shares of company stock valued at $5,860,294 over the last 90 days. 0.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.