Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $3.71 Million Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,763 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 344 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Nucor were worth $3,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. Canal Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Nucor by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nucor by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Nucor by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Jessup Wealth Management Inc boosted its stake in Nucor by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 10,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $118.72 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $97.59 and a 52-week high of $176.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.25 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NUE. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. UBS Group raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.33.

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.