Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Position Boosted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 314,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,622 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $36,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NUE. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Nucor by 384.6% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Nucor by 3.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 5.1% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,349 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,759,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 7,615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Nucor by 14,525.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 326,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,144,000 after purchasing an additional 324,654 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Down 3.4 %

Nucor stock opened at $135.19 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00. 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 market cap of $31.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.99.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on 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. cut their price target on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.13.

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.