Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Nucor during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NUE. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.13.

Nucor Stock Up 1.6 %

NUE stock opened at $137.75 on Monday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $124.89 and a 200-day moving average of $140.34.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s payout ratio 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.