Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 800 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 8,530.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,695 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 19.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $519,648,000 after buying an additional 571,682 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nucor during the third quarter valued at approximately $74,829,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Nucor by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $137.75 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $32.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $140.34. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $112.25 and a 52 week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 last year, the business earned $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NUE. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.13.

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.