Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 151 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 930 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 151 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 8,530.1% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,819,000 after buying an additional 1,576,695 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 19.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after buying an additional 571,682 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the third quarter valued at approximately $74,829,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in 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 buying an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NUE shares. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 restated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.13.

Nucor Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $134.41 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $126.06 and a 200-day moving average of $139.61. The company has a market capitalization of $31.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98, 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $112.25 and a 52-week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 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.