Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,163 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Nucor by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 652,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $98,097,000 after purchasing an additional 20,258 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $565,000. BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $681,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $883,732,000 after acquiring an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:NUE opened at $134.73 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 12-month low of $112.25 and a 12-month high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.58.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (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 quarter last year, the company posted $3.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.13.

About Nucor

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.