Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV reduced its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,551 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Nucor were worth $13,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 1.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 19.8% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $519,648,000 after purchasing an additional 571,682 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 25.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 45,467 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Stock Up 0.2 %

Nucor stock opened at $140.10 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.60. 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 Co. has a one year low of $112.25 and a one year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its 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 net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is 26.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four 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 $163.13.

About Nucor

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.