Baldwin Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Baldwin Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 385 shares during the quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Nucor by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 652,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $98,097,000 after purchasing an additional 20,258 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 52.8% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 17,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,726,000 after buying an additional 5,960 shares in the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the third quarter worth about $681,000. Ascension Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 2nd quarter valued at about $885,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,655,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Nucor Price Performance

NUE opened at $154.04 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $150.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.67. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $133.42 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The firm has a market cap of $36.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Nucor Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This represents a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.