Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $44.11 Million Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 377,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,011 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $44,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NUE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 60.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NUE. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price objective on Nucor in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $156.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.44.

Nucor Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NUE opened at $121.90 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $112.25 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.29. 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 quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business posted $3.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. 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.