Phoenix Financial Ltd. Sells 263,556 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Phoenix Financial Ltd. lessened its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 68.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 263,556 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Nucor worth $13,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 60.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $115.47 on Thursday. 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 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $199.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $128.38 and its 200 day moving average is $135.11. The stock has a market cap of $26.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business earned $3.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 26.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NUE. Citigroup decreased their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $156.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 target price on Nucor in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.11.

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.