HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 5,385 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,385 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $7,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NUE. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth $239,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 35,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth $257,000. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth $232,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NUE shares. Argus set a $155.00 price target on Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.33.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $129.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $129.93 and its 200 day moving average is $138.27. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00.

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 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 26.16%.

About Nucor

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.