Manhattan West Asset Management LLC Sells 368 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Manhattan West Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 22.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 368 shares during the quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 94.2% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Nucor by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 262,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,665,000 after acquiring an additional 15,058 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,847,000. Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in Nucor by 86.2% during the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 12,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,552,000 after acquiring an additional 5,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its position in Nucor by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 13,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE NUE traded up $3.87 during trading on Friday, hitting $160.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,252,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,657. The company’s fifty day moving average is $160.47 and its 200-day moving average is $175.69. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $140.07 and a one year high of $203.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $38.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.57.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.37. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The company had revenue of $8.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.81 earnings per share. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 10.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 12.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.29.

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.