Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 5,880 Shares of Nucor Corporation $NUE

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 42.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,880 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,407,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,633,554,000 after acquiring an additional 144,038 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Nucor by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,853,205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $628,497,000 after acquiring an additional 41,728 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter worth about $609,002,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in Nucor by 20.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,042,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $412,081,000 after purchasing an additional 509,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Nucor by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,103,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $342,642,000 after purchasing an additional 210,577 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Noah C. Hanners sold 6,472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.50, for a total value of $1,465,908.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 50,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,410,390.50. This trade represents a 11.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 12,888 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.00, for a total value of $2,912,688.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 89,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,277,624. This represents a 12.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 82,378 shares of company stock valued at $18,963,930. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Nucor from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group lowered Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $190.00 to $224.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Nucor from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Nucor from $260.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.92.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $228.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $236.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Nucor Corporation has a 1-year low of $128.46 and a 1-year high of $270.90.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.88 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.68%. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Nucor Corporation will post 17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 22.18%.

Nucor Profile

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.