California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 38,099 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 417,017 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 38,099 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Nucor worth $48,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in Nucor by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 407,299 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $46,966,000 after purchasing an additional 16,940 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 1,597.1% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 577 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $837,000. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Nucor by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 80,901 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,442,000 after acquiring an additional 3,618 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Trading Down 6.1 %

NYSE:NUE traded down $6.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $103.14. 3,817,095 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,013,175. Nucor Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.77 and a fifty-two week high of $203.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.31.

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Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect 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. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Argus set a $155.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $164.44.

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.