Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Lowers Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lowered its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 9.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,065 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Nucor were worth $9,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Nucor by 129.0% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 94.2% in the 1st quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 208.0% in the first quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel R. Needham sold 8,624 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,379,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 accessible through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday. 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 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised Nucor from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $187.00 to $176.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Argus raised Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $195.00.

Nucor Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $140.95 on Tuesday. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $137.91 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $151.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.86. The company has a market capitalization of $33.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 1.55.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. Nucor had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 10.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 9.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Company 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.