Leavell Investment Management Inc. Sells 685 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,968 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 685 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NUE. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1,060.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 2,184 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 109,174 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,413,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 209,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,560,000 after purchasing an additional 25,744 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 6,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Nucor by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 9,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:NUE opened at $135.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $112.25 and a twelve month high of $203.00. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $125.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.66.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 prior year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.13.

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.