Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 33.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,119 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor during the third quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Nucor during the third quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 3.0% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Nucor by 10.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 393,328 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $59,133,000 after buying an additional 35,943 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.33.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE stock opened at $131.21 on Thursday. 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 $30.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (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 period last year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.16%.

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.