Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lessened its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,038 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $14,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the third 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,612,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $242,381,000 after acquiring an additional 45,467 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.13.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $137.75 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $32.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $124.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.34. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $112.25 and a 12-month 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. Research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio 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.