Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Trims Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lessened its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 339 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 8,530.1% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,819,000 after buying an additional 1,576,695 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Nucor by 19.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after purchasing an additional 571,682 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter worth about $74,829,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Nucor by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Nucor by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,680 shares of company stock worth $3,452,524. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.63.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NUE opened at $128.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $112.25 and a twelve month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 21.26%.

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.