Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires 8,181 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 74.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,142 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,181 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Nucor were worth $3,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Nucor by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,175,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $652,851,000 after purchasing an additional 149,589 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $377,631,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,070,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $360,430,000 after acquiring an additional 237,752 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,499,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $261,041,000 after acquiring an additional 36,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,367,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $237,949,000 after acquiring an additional 85,475 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Nucor from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $188.38.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE opened at $157.58 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $170.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 4.02. Nucor Co. has a 52 week low of $140.07 and a 52 week high of $203.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 1.60.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.62 by ($0.16). Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The firm had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.45 EPS. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 11.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.71%.

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.