Bank of Montreal Can Sells 10,120 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 226,021 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,120 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Nucor were worth $26,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 15.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 249,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,583,000 after purchasing an additional 34,149 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Nucor by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $680,000 after buying an additional 2,045 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nucor by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 76.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,589 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.11.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $109.47 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $127.93 and its 200 day moving average is $134.82. The company has a market capitalization of $25.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $97.59 and a fifty-two week high of $199.15.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 26.16%.

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.