Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 214 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 23.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 716 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $86,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.22.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total transaction of $4,115,065.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,590,128.67. This represents a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nucor Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:NUE opened at $122.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $113.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.21. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $170.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.25 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

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.