Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 129,586 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lessened its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 39.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 202,120 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 129,586 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Nucor were worth $40,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NUE. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at about $377,631,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter worth $108,747,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the first quarter worth $90,216,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 4,453.7% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 110,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,782,000 after purchasing an additional 107,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 660,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $114,956,000 after purchasing an additional 93,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.29.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE opened at $160.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $160.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.64. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $140.07 and a one year high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.93. The stock has a market cap of $38.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.57.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.37. Nucor had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 10.45%. The company had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 10.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.71%.

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.