Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 819 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Private Advisor Group LLC decreased its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,530 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 819 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position 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 valued at $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Nucor by 1.3% during 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 during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Nucor by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after acquiring an additional 571,682 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,282,000 after acquiring an additional 358,721 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on NUE. Citigroup dropped their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.13.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $136.01 on Wednesday. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $112.25 and a one year high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market cap of $31.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.65.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.