Cambridge Trust Co. Lowers Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Cambridge Trust Co. lowered its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 47.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 565 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $377,631,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Nucor by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,499,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $261,041,000 after buying an additional 36,304 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Nucor by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,367,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $237,949,000 after buying an additional 85,475 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Nucor by 6.5% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,165,094 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $230,572,000 after buying an additional 70,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Nucor by 23.5% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 804,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,141,000 after buying an additional 153,077 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NUE. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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 set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.29.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $1,379,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,840. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NUE stock traded down $4.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $151.05. The stock had a trading volume of 2,176,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,597,931. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $140.07 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.22 billion, a PE ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.57.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.81 earnings per share. Nucor’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 10.57 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors 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 yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.71%.

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.