Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 89.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 27,160 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,819 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $3,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $84,000. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 9,596 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $162,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Nucor by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Price Performance

Nucor stock opened at $126.88 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $29.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.83. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In other Nucor news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total value of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,132 shares in the company, valued at $13,923,837.96. The trade was a 5.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,680 shares of company stock valued at $3,452,524 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.63.

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.