Empower Advisory Group LLC Trims Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Empower Advisory Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 490,255 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 31,819 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Nucor worth $57,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NUE. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.13.

Nucor Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $137.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s 50-day moving average is $124.89 and its 200 day moving average is $140.18. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.28. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.16 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

Nucor 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.