Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 75.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 70,449 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,491 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Nucor by 11.9% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 2,912 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its position in Nucor by 15.2% during the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 2,797 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in Nucor by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in Nucor by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $134.73 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $112.25 and a twelve month high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.58.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.