Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,742 shares during the quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Nucor by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 1.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 19.8% in 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 4.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 68,252 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.33.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $129.49 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $112.25 and a one year high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $29.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 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 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal 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 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.