Blue Trust Inc. Has $102,000 Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 72.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,322 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in Nucor by 45.6% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Trading Down 3.4 %

NUE opened at $135.19 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $31.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.89. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted 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 net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research 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 MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.13.

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.