Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,625 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,640,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NUE. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $565,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Nucor by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $883,732,000 after buying an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. InvesTrust acquired a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,388,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Nucor by 15.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 249,984 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,583,000 after buying an additional 34,149 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NUE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group upgraded Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Nucor from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $164.78.

Remove Ads

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NUE traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $127.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,155,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,882,690. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $112.25 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.49.

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 prior year, the company earned $3.16 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.