Prudential PLC Reduces Position in Nucor Corporation $NUE

Key Points

• Prudential PLC has reduced its stake in Nucor Corporation by 45.2%, now holding 3,750 shares valued at approximately $451,000.
• Several large investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and First Trust Advisors LP, have increased their stakes in Nucor during the first quarter, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Nucor reported a quarterly EPS of $2.60, surpassing analysts' expectations, while also announcing a dividend of $0.55 per share, reflecting a 1.5% yield.

Prudential PLC reduced its stake in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 45.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,750 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,091 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Nucor by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,959,327 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,484,965,000 after acquiring an additional 745,671 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Nucor by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,404,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $280,627,000 after purchasing an additional 474,274 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Nucor by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,772,831 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $213,342,000 after buying an additional 92,363 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 1st quarter worth approximately $194,804,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,384,590 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $161,595,000 after buying an additional 96,375 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $155.78.

Nucor Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:NUE traded up $1.26 on Tuesday, reaching $145.91. 1,382,729 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,732,602. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $136.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.15. The company has a market capitalization of $33.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.74. Nucor Corporation has a 12 month low of $97.59 and a 12 month high of $170.52. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. Nucor had a net margin of 4.21% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The company had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 7,088 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,707,592.73. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total transaction of $1,150,050.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 82,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,857,956.14. The trade was a 8.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,109 shares of company stock valued at $3,360,094. 0.71% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.