MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $9.28 Million Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,752 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,195 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $9,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NUE. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Nucor by 139.8% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 1,817 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Nucor during the first quarter worth about $37,395,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 24.4% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 12,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,562,000 after buying an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 286.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 105,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,962,000 after acquiring an additional 78,528 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $154.77 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $36.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $133.42 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $150.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.69.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.57.

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.