D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 4,924 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,215 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,924 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of 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 valued at $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $883,732,000 after buying an additional 74,569 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Nucor by 19.8% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after buying an additional 571,682 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in 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 valued at $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $242,381,000 after buying an additional 45,467 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NUE shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.13.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $135.19 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $112.25 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. Analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.16%.

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.