Bleakley Financial Group LLC Sells 416 Shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 416 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Nucor were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Widmann Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 4.0% during the third quarter. Widmann Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 45.6% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.7% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 2.4% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 3,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Nucor in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.13.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $137.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $126.21 and its 200-day moving average is $141.00. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $112.25 and a one year high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued 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 return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.16 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

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.