Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Reduces Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 99,105 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $11,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 74,569 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,680,468 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $196,127,000 after purchasing an additional 68,252 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,679,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $195,977,000 after purchasing an additional 104,238 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock opened at $122.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The business’s 50-day moving average is $130.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.75. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 period last year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus set a $155.00 target price on Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.33.

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.