Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Reduces Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 36.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 810,965 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 472,146 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.35% of Nucor worth $94,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Nucor by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $519,648,000 after acquiring an additional 571,682 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Nucor by 25.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 358,721 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,714,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Nucor by 2.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,731,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.33.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE stock opened at $129.73 on Wednesday. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00. 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 $29.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $130.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.11.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS 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 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 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.