Choate Investment Advisors Raises Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Choate Investment Advisors raised its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Nucor were worth $753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NUE. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $565,000. BIP Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth about $681,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $883,732,000 after acquiring an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InvesTrust acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $4,388,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target 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. Argus set a $155.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.33.

Nucor Stock Up 2.1 %

NUE opened at $132.26 on Monday. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $112.25 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $129.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.