Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 16,358 Shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Nucor Corporation by 54.7% during the first quarter, selling over 16,000 shares and holding 13,532 shares valued at $1.63 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Two executive vice presidents at Nucor sold shares recently, with EVP Daniel R. Needham selling 7,088 shares and EVP Kenneth Rex Query selling 10,000 shares, leading to decreases in their respective holdings by 6.66% and 9.61%.
• Nucor's most recent earnings report beat analyst expectations with $2.60 EPS, and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55, indicating a 1.56% yield based on the annualized payout.

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 54.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,532 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 16,358 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 73.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE NUE traded down $4.40 on Friday, hitting $138.67. 1,721,010 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,572,919. Nucor Corporation has a 52-week low of $97.59 and a 52-week high of $170.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.70. The company's 50-day moving average price is $130.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $8.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.68 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued 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 is Monday, June 30th. Nucor's payout ratio is currently 39.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total transaction of $1,303,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,080 shares in the company, valued at $12,265,209.60. The trade was a 9.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total transaction of $906,342.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,707,592.73. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Nucor from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.13.

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.