Invesco Ltd. Raises Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,435,265 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 384,205 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.04% of Nucor worth $284,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Nucor by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,967,254 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $701,255,000 after acquiring an additional 105,309 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $398,077,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake 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 worth $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Nucor by 4.2% during 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 during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Nucor by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,679,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $195,977,000 after acquiring an additional 104,238 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $110.47. 324,589 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,874,823. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $126.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.01. The firm has a market cap of $25.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $195.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.33.

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.