Stiles Financial Services Inc Grows Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 721 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Nucor were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 8,530.1% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,595,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $239,819,000 after buying an additional 1,576,695 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $519,648,000 after acquiring an additional 571,682 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,829,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Down 2.3 %

NUE stock opened at $130.18 on Monday. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $112.25 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market cap of $30.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.10.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NUE shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 began coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average 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.