GWN Securities Inc. Purchases New Shares in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in 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 buying an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $565,000. BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth $681,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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. Finally, InvesTrust purchased a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $4,388,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. 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 price objective for the company. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 report on Friday, March 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.33.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $132.26 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $112.25 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.