Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Purchased by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,279 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,967,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $701,255,000 after purchasing an additional 105,309 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at about $398,077,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,435,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $284,220,000 after acquiring an additional 384,205 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after acquiring an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,680,468 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $196,127,000 after purchasing an additional 68,252 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.11.

Nucor Stock Up 1.6 %

NUE stock opened at $111.22 on Monday. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $97.59 and a fifty-two week high of $197.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $127.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.45. 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 market capitalization of $25.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67.

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 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.