Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 331,711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,714,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $398,077,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Nucor by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,435,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $284,220,000 after buying an additional 384,205 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Nucor by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,282,000 after acquiring an additional 358,721 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,906,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 680,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,454,000 after acquiring an additional 179,246 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Argus set a $155.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.11.

Nucor Stock Performance

Nucor stock opened at $110.54 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $126.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $25.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $97.59 and a twelve month high of $195.96.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.16%.

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.