Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Peninsula Asset Management Inc.

Peninsula Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,765 shares during the quarter. Nucor comprises approximately 1.3% of Peninsula Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Peninsula Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth $252,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $4,150,000. Essential Planning LLC. purchased a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $812,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.33.

Nucor Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NUE opened at $132.26 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $129.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market capitalization of $30.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.16%.

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.