AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Sells 32,207 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lowered its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 715,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 32,207 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned 0.30% of Nucor worth $83,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Widmann Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.0% during the third quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.7% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.4% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 3,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NUE stock opened at $137.75 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $124.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.62. The company has a market cap of $32.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NUE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price target (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor presently 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.