Vontobel Holding Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,655 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $4,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Nucor in the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Nucor by 150.6% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 7,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 4,326 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Nucor by 106.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 35,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,328,000 after acquiring an additional 18,488 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the first quarter worth about $284,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the first quarter worth about $222,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 120,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,351,936.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,151 shares of company stock valued at $7,308,683. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NUE shares. UBS Group started coverage on Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Nucor from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.83.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE stock opened at $192.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $191.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.20. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $129.79 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $46.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 1.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.33. Nucor had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 13.03%. The company had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.89 earnings per share. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.01%.

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.