National Bank of Canada FI Sells 183,261 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 61.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,590 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 183,261 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Nucor were worth $13,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horrell Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nucor by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Jessup Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in Nucor by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Jessup Wealth Management Inc now owns 10,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Nucor by 1.0% in the third quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 9,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Stock Down 6.1 %

NYSE:NUE opened at $103.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.40. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $99.77 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The company has a market cap of $23.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.26, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51.

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 net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is 26.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NUE shares. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price target on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.44.

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.