Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,035 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,658 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,035 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Widmann Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in Nucor by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Nucor by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc grew its position in Nucor by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 10,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC grew its position in Nucor by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 9,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.33.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $122.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.13 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.80.

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 the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 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.