Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Holdings Raised by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 314,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,622 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Nucor worth $36,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 8,530.1% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $239,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,695 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Nucor by 19.8% during 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 buying an additional 571,682 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor during the third quarter worth about $74,829,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Nucor by 25.6% in the fourth 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, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $135.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $31.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.99. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 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 EPS 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 posted $3.16 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective 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. Four investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.13.

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.