Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 281 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 281 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its position in Nucor by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 4,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 8,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 2,327 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at $4,797,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in Nucor by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 80,535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Counterweight Ventures LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 14,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Nucor from $166.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.13.

Nucor Stock Performance

NYSE:NUE opened at $135.61 on Friday. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.66. The stock has a market cap of $31.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor Co. has a twelve month low of $112.25 and a twelve month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 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.