American Century Companies Inc. Buys 25,127 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 304,674 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,127 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $35,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Nucor by 60.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Nucor by 29.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $121.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $28.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.29. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $112.25 and a 12-month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released 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 net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 26.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NUE. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on Nucor in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.44.

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.