Barings LLC Sells 10,596 Shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE)

Barings LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 19.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,596 shares during the period. Barings LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $5,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NUE. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,435,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $284,220,000 after acquiring an additional 384,205 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Nucor by 24.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the first quarter valued at about $194,804,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,384,590 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $161,595,000 after purchasing an additional 96,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,077 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,902,000 after buying an additional 186,663 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $138.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.73. 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 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 39.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $157.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Nucor 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.