Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $38.71 Million in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 331,711 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $38,714,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Nucor as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake 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 holdings in shares of Nucor by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Stock Down 2.9 %

NUE traded down $3.24 on Monday, hitting $107.26. The company had a trading volume of 223,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,065,658. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $97.59 and a 52-week high of $193.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.02. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is 26.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on NUE. Argus set a $155.00 price target on Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group raised shares of Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.