Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Increases Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 60.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,242 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $883,732,000 after buying an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 19.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $519,648,000 after buying an additional 571,682 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,612,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $242,381,000 after buying an additional 45,467 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NUE. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $152.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.13.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $142.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $112.25 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $140.05.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 earned $3.16 EPS. Research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

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.