Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 300,411 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,745 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $35,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position 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 valued at $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth $565,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. InvesTrust acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,388,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Nucor by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 249,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,583,000 after buying an additional 34,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 target price on Nucor in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research 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 report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.44.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $103.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.36. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.77 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 period last year, the company posted $3.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.