Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Reduces Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lowered its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 271,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 29,700 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.12% of Nucor worth $31,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $735,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Nucor by 87.4% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 626,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,065,000 after purchasing an additional 291,888 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Nucor by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,655 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 580,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,741,000 after buying an additional 84,460 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 308.2% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 105,319 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,292,000 after buying an additional 79,519 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE stock opened at $110.62 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $125.13 and a 200 day moving average of $133.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $193.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NUE. Argus set a $155.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price objective on Nucor in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.33.

Nucor Company 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.