Flputnam Investment Management Co. Purchases 1,661 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 44.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 18.1% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 2,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. raised its position in Nucor by 54.3% in the 3rd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 3,366 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Nucor by 9.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 218,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,981,000 after purchasing an additional 18,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in Nucor by 3.2% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 652,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $98,097,000 after buying an additional 20,258 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.13.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE stock opened at $133.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $127.21 and a 200 day moving average of $139.44. 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 posted 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 net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued 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 1.64%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.