Intrust Bank NA Lowers Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Intrust Bank NA trimmed its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,773 shares during the quarter. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $837,000. DnB Asset Management AS increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 80,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,442,000 after purchasing an additional 3,618 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 131,373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,333,000 after purchasing an additional 10,528 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Nucor by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 377,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,106,000 after purchasing an additional 49,011 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,961,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NUE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price objective on Nucor in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.44.

Nucor Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NUE opened at $121.90 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $112.25 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.29. The company has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 previous year, the company earned $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors 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 yield of 1.80%. 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.