Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP lowered its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 56.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 148,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 193,587 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Nucor were worth $17,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nucor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Nucor by 60.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Nucor by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NUE. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Argus set a $155.00 price target on Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.44.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $121.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $130.98 and a 200 day moving average of $137.27. 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 twelve month low of $112.25 and a twelve month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio 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.