Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,035 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,658 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,035 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nucor by 1.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 74,569 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Nucor by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $205,282,000 after purchasing an additional 358,721 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Nucor by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,680,468 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $196,127,000 after purchasing an additional 68,252 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Nucor by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,679,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,977,000 after purchasing an additional 104,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Down 5.8 %

Nucor stock opened at $122.02 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $130.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.80. The stock has a market cap of $28.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued 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 1.80%. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NUE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated 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. Argus set a $155.00 target price on Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.33.

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.