Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Stake Lowered by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,310 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Nucor were worth $1,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Nucor by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $883,732,000 after buying an additional 74,569 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Nucor by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $519,648,000 after buying an additional 571,682 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Nucor by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Nucor by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,612,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $242,381,000 after buying an additional 45,467 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NUE. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.13.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $135.19 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $112.25 and a one year high of $203.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $125.19 and a 200-day moving average of $139.89. The company has a market capitalization of $31.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 posted $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.