National Bank of Canada FI Sells 183,261 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 61.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,590 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 183,261 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Nucor were worth $13,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Financial LLC raised its position in Nucor by 170.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 4,752 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,996 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Nucor by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 251,364 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,337,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,917,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Nucor by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 407,299 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $46,966,000 after acquiring an additional 16,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at about $338,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on NUE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup dropped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $162.11.

Nucor Stock Down 6.7 %

NUE stock traded down $7.68 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $107.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 866,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,933,801. The company has a market cap of $24.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. The firm's 50-day moving average is $128.38 and its 200-day moving average is $135.11. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $97.59 and a 12 month high of $199.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.