Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 243,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 48,041 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $28,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $565,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. InvesTrust acquired a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,388,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Nucor by 15.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 249,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,583,000 after buying an additional 34,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 8,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $987,000 after acquiring an additional 2,327 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Citigroup lowered their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.11.

Nucor Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NUE stock opened at $102.92 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $128.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.46. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.