California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 417,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 38,099 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Nucor worth $48,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 407,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,966,000 after purchasing an additional 16,940 shares during the period. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth $338,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Nucor by 1,597.1% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 577 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $837,000. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 80,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,442,000 after purchasing an additional 3,618 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $119.68 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.79 and a 200-day moving average of $136.96. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The stock has a market cap of $27.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on NUE. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on Nucor in a report on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Argus set a $155.00 target price on Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.44.

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.