Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 5,546 Shares of Nucor Corporation $NUE

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,546 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $4,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its holdings in Nucor by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 5.6% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 1.9% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Nucor by 23.2% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Noah C. Hanners sold 6,472 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 50,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,410,390.50. The trade was a 11.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bradley Ford sold 2,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.13, for a total value of $519,971.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,132,242.37. This represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 76,770 shares of company stock worth $17,132,834. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Nucor from $196.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Nucor from $213.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Nucor from $210.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.80.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $227.49 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.28. Nucor Corporation has a 52 week low of $106.21 and a 52 week high of $235.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.87.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.41. Nucor had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The firm had revenue of $9.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Nucor Corporation will post 13.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to buy up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 22.18%.

About Nucor

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.