Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 105,309 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,967,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 105,309 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $701,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NUE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $398,077,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,714,000. State Street Corp grew its position 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 worth $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,906,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.44.

Nucor Price Performance

Nucor stock opened at $123.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market cap of $28.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $130.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.86. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (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 last year, the business earned $3.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.