Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Purchases 527 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 527 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $2,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nucor in the 4th quarter worth $565,000. 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 worth $883,732,000 after buying an additional 74,569 shares during the last quarter. InvesTrust purchased a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,388,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 249,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,583,000 after acquiring an additional 34,149 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NUE shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three research 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 target price of $164.78.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NUE opened at $127.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $130.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a market cap of $29.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $112.25 and a one year high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

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 $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. 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.