Arjuna Capital Grows Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Arjuna Capital increased its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NUE. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 worth $883,732,000 after purchasing an additional 74,569 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $519,648,000 after buying an additional 571,682 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,680,468 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $196,127,000 after buying an additional 68,252 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Up 1.4 %

NUE opened at $133.79 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a market cap of $30.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $128.34 and its 200 day moving average is $139.15.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business earned $3.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. 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 (DPR) is currently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.75.

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.