Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Howland Capital Management LLC

Howland Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,741 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,576,695 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 571,682 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at $74,829,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Nucor by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,282,000 after acquiring an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE opened at $130.18 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $30.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $126.21 and a 200-day moving average of $141.24.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on NUE shares. StockNews.com cut Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.13.

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.