Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,189 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 328 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $372,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at $565,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $883,732,000 after acquiring an additional 74,569 shares in the last quarter. InvesTrust acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth $4,388,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 249,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,583,000 after acquiring an additional 34,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on NUE. Citigroup reduced their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.44.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $123.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $28.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.86.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio 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.