QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 22,983 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

QRG Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,289 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 22,983 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $8,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $883,732,000 after acquiring an additional 74,569 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased 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 worth $519,648,000 after purchasing an additional 571,682 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position 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 valued at $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,679,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,977,000 after purchasing an additional 104,238 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $134.73 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $126.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.58. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $112.25 and a 1-year 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 has a market cap of $31.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor 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.