Sterling Capital Management LLC Purchases 4,873 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 51.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,288 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,873 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Nucor were worth $1,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Nucor by 3.6% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 85,413 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $12,840,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its stake in Nucor by 29.6% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 19,037 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,866,000 after acquiring an additional 4,345 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nucor in the third quarter worth approximately $2,024,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth $1,004,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NUE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price objective on Nucor in a report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.33.

Nucor Stock Performance

Nucor stock traded up $1.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $110.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,125,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,072,918. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $25.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $125.13 and a 200-day moving average of $133.02. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $97.59 and a 52 week high of $193.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter last year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.