Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 12,393 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 771.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,999 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,393 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Nucor were worth $1,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Nucor by 60.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $127.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $29.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $131.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.42. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $112.25 and a 1 year high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.72%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 26.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NUE shares. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.78.

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.