Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $5.98 Million Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 51,255 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,426 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $5,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,552,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 137.8% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 81,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,554,000 after purchasing an additional 47,403 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 3,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 94.1% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 16,126 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 7,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 15,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after buying an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.33.

Nucor Stock Performance

Nucor stock opened at $115.32 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $117.98 and a 200-day moving average of $128.81. The company has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $176.59. 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, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.25 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company’s revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total transaction of $4,115,065.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,993 shares in the company, valued at $19,590,128.67. This trade represents a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Company 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.