Lazard Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 18.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 181,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 28,466 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $35,918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. SVB Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 3,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 7,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 54.1% during the first quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NUE shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.29.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE traded up $3.87 on Friday, hitting $160.89. 1,252,823 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,532,657. The business’s fifty day moving average is $160.47 and its 200 day moving average is $175.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.57. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $140.07 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.93.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $8.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.69 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 10.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.71%.

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.