Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Grows Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 60.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,269 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,242 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Nucor were worth $1,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after buying an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $883,732,000 after purchasing an additional 74,569 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Nucor by 19.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $519,648,000 after purchasing an additional 571,682 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,612,216 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $242,381,000 after purchasing an additional 45,467 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on NUE. Citigroup dropped their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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 boosted their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $163.13.

Nucor Trading Down 3.4 %

Nucor stock traded down $4.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $135.19. The stock had a trading volume of 2,277,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,119,081. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $125.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.89. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $112.25 and a twelve month high of $203.00. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $31.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.60.

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

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued 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 1.63%. 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.