Ieq Capital LLC Sells 11,482 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Ieq Capital LLC cut its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 85.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 11,482 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nucor by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $883,732,000 after acquiring an additional 74,569 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $519,648,000 after acquiring an additional 571,682 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,612,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $242,381,000 after purchasing an additional 45,467 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Citigroup decreased 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. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.13.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $137.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $126.86 and a 200 day moving average of $139.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $112.25 and a 12-month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.