Nucor Corporation $NUE Shares Bought by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management sharply increased its Nucor stake in Q4, lifting holdings by 745.2% to 83,463 shares worth about $13.6 million.
• Nucor has seen mixed signals from Wall Street: several firms raised price targets, while UBS downgraded the stock; the consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with a $245.45 target.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.23 and revenue of $9.50 billion, both above expectations, while also continuing a dividend and a $4 billion share buyback program.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 745.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,463 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 73,588 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Nucor were worth $13,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the third quarter valued at $1,528,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 15,814.3% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares during the period. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the third quarter valued at $1,085,000. Peterson Wealth Services boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 587,032.0% in the third quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 146,783 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $19,879,000 after purchasing an additional 146,758 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,103,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $342,642,000 after purchasing an additional 210,577 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NUE. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Nucor from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Nucor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $190.00 to $224.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $213.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $245.45.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Randy J. Spicer sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $562,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,614,750. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Noah C. Hanners sold 6,472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total transaction of $1,465,908.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 50,377 shares in the company, valued at $11,410,390.50. This trade represents a 11.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 71,818 shares of company stock valued at $16,234,593 in the last ninety days. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nucor Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE NUE opened at $225.56 on Thursday. Nucor Corporation has a 12 month low of $106.21 and a 12 month high of $235.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.90 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $51.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.87. The company's fifty day moving average price is $193.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.66.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $9.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.88 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The firm's revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 14.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is 22.18%.

Nucor announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

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