Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Stake Boosted by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,650 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Widmann Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Nucor by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.7% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 10,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.0% in the third quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 9,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $133.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $127.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. Analysts expect 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 issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.