Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Holdings Reduced by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 203,111 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 33,178 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.09% of Nucor worth $23,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Nucor in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $137.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $32.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.34.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business earned $3.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is 26.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.