Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Purchased by Natixis

Natixis lifted its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 635.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 73,011 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 63,086 shares during the quarter. Natixis' holdings in Nucor were worth $8,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 60.3% during the fourth 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 increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $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 research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $160.33.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE stock traded up $3.45 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $115.38. 1,784,074 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,057,510. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $176.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $123.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.41. The firm has a market cap of $26.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm 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 Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor's payout ratio is 26.16%.

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.