Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Sells 735 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lessened its stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 735 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $1,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NUE. State Street Corp lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth $565,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 bought a new stake in Nucor in the fourth quarter worth about $4,388,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Nucor by 15.8% during 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock opened at $127.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $130.86 and a 200-day moving average of $137.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.58. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $112.25 and a 12 month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 9.85%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. 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 1.73%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on NUE shares. UBS Group upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday. Argus set a $155.00 price target on Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.78.

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.