Empowered Funds LLC Sells 16,859 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Empowered Funds LLC cut its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 19.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 69,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 16,859 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $8,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Nucor by 2.9% in 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 during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 652,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $98,097,000 after purchasing an additional 20,258 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at $565,000. BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at $681,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 worth $883,732,000 after buying an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup cut their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.13.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE opened at $137.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $126.21 and a 200 day moving average of $141.00. The company has a market capitalization of $32.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 1.60. 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.

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 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 last year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 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.