Mather Group LLC. Reduces Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Mather Group LLC. reduced its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 23.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 740 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Nucor during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in Nucor in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total transaction of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE stock opened at $133.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $127.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.53. 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.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NUE. StockNews.com cut Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.13.

Nucor Company 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.