Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Stake Lessened by Holderness Investments Co.

Holderness Investments Co. lessened its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 782 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased 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 worth $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.3% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased 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 worth $519,648,000 after buying an additional 571,682 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 worth $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Nucor by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,680,468 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $196,127,000 after purchasing an additional 68,252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus set a $155.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.33.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE opened at $129.42 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $29.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $130.59 and a 200-day moving average of $138.01.

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, beating 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 business earned $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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.