Banco Santander S.A. Increases Stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $7,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NUE. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $565,000. BIP Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor in the third quarter worth $681,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 period. Finally, InvesTrust acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at $4,388,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NUE. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price target (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.75.

Nucor Trading Up 1.4 %

Nucor stock opened at $133.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $128.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.12. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $112.25 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. 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, 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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.