New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 15,476 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 10.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 15,476 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of Nucor worth $19,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its position in Nucor by 94.2% in the first quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Nucor in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Nucor in the first quarter worth about $31,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Nucor by 129.0% in the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in Nucor in the third quarter worth about $30,000. 76.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on NUE. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.57.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $142.60 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $147.40 and a 200 day moving average of $156.20. The stock has a market cap of $33.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor Co. has a 12 month low of $133.42 and a 12 month high of $203.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.57 earnings per share. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nucor news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,499,436. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.