SlateStone Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth about $239,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Nucor by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 35,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Nucor in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 36,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,478,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Nucor by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,283,111 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $192,902,000 after purchasing an additional 262,493 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nucor Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE NUE opened at $132.26 on Monday. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The stock has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $129.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 26.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on NUE. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.33.

About Nucor

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.