Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Sold by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp decreased its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 98.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 437 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 21,445 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Nucor were worth $51,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,967,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $701,255,000 after buying an additional 105,309 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at about $398,077,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position 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 buying an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Argus set a $155.00 price target on Nucor in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.44.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $103.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $99.77 and a twelve month high of $203.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

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.