Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,404,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 474,274 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Nucor were worth $280,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Nucor by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 85,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its position 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 worth $2,866,000 after buying an additional 4,345 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nucor in the third quarter worth $2,024,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Nucor in the third quarter valued at $1,004,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Nucor by 9.6% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 36,493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,486,000 after acquiring an additional 3,197 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Argus set a $155.00 price target on Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.33.

Nucor Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NUE stock opened at $110.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a market cap of $25.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $125.13 and its 200-day moving average is $133.27. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $193.61.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s 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.