Utah Retirement Systems Sells 300 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Utah Retirement Systems lowered its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 39,317 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in Nucor were worth $4,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Nucor by 60.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price objective on Nucor in a research note on Monday, March 24th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.33.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE opened at $119.59 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $121.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.01. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $97.59 and a 52-week high of $176.59. The company has a market cap of $27.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 39.15%.

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.