Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Stock Holdings Lowered by Guggenheim Capital LLC

Guggenheim Capital LLC cut its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 62.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,491 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 66,480 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $4,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Nucor by 60.3% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nucor by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $160.33.

Nucor Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NUE traded up $2.85 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $114.78. The company had a trading volume of 485,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,054,670. The company's 50 day moving average price is $123.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.41. The stock has a market cap of $26.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $178.32. 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 (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $3.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.