Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Decreases Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS cut its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,738 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Nucor were worth $5,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $239,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,481,000. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in Nucor by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 16,344 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,457,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Nucor by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in Nucor by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 10,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,604,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.33.

Nucor Stock Down 5.8 %

NUE opened at $122.02 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $130.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.75. The company has a market cap of $28.13 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results 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 prior year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.16%.

About Nucor

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.