Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,281 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,119 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $8,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $398,077,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Nucor by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,435,265 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $284,220,000 after purchasing an additional 384,205 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Nucor by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,404,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $280,627,000 after purchasing an additional 474,274 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Nucor by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on NUE shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. UBS Group raised Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.33.

Nucor Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE NUE opened at $115.70 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $26.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.79. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $97.59 and a one year high of $176.60.

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, beating 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 previous year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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