Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,428 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,668 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Nucor were worth $4,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 528.6% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 507,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,235,000 after acquiring an additional 426,949 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in Nucor by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 8,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 2,327 shares during the last quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth $3,100,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $2,640,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 132,300.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NUE. BMO Capital Markets raised Nucor from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on Nucor in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total value of $4,115,065.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,590,128.67. This trade represents a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE opened at $121.84 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $97.59 and a 12-month high of $170.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $115.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.15%.

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.