Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Stock Holdings Raised by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 87.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 626,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 291,888 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Nucor were worth $73,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Nucor by 60.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.33.

Nucor Stock Down 1.2 %

NUE stock opened at $109.10 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $126.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.84. The company has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $195.96. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.