Moran Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,766 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Nucor by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $883,732,000 after buying an additional 74,569 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after acquiring an additional 571,682 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after acquiring an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,680,468 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $196,127,000 after acquiring an additional 68,252 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.33.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $131.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $30.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.76. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $112.25 and a 1-year high of $203.00.

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. On average, equities analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is 26.16%.

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.