abrdn plc Has $26.93 Million Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 41.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 45,521 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.06% of Nucor worth $26,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $221,000. Castle Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $485,000. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,407,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 31,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total transaction of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at $15,902,206.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total value of $609,092.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total transaction of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at $15,902,206.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 over the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.83.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE opened at $174.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $41.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $191.20 and a 200 day moving average of $174.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 3.57. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $129.79 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $8.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.26 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 12.40%. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.45 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.71%.

Nucor Profile

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.