Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Position Trimmed by Howland Capital Management LLC

Howland Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 21,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,741 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $883,732,000 after acquiring an additional 74,569 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Nucor by 19.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,612,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $242,381,000 after buying an additional 45,467 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. This represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.13.

Nucor Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NUE stock opened at $130.18 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The firm has a market cap of $30.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $126.21 and a 200-day moving average of $141.24. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change 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%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 26.16%.

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.