Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Bought by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in 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 worth $239,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576,695 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Nucor by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $519,648,000 after purchasing an additional 571,682 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,829,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Nucor by 25.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE opened at $142.47 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $124.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.05. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $112.25 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 26.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.