Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Purchased by Bridges Investment Management Inc.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 37.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,401 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Nucor by 8,530.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,576,695 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Nucor by 19.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after purchasing an additional 571,682 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in 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. State Street Corp raised its position in Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Nucor in the third quarter valued at about $46,731,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $133.94 on Tuesday. 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 $31.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.25 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $127.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.44.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company 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 Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on NUE. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.13.

Nucor Company 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.