Madison Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 2,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NUE. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Nucor by 25.6% in the fourth 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,714,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Nucor by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,724,117,000 after purchasing an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Nucor during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,731,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Nucor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,906,000. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NUE. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Nucor from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nucor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Argus set a $155.00 target price on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.33.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $122.02 on Friday. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $112.25 and a 52-week high of $203.00. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $130.65 and a 200-day moving average of $137.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (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 period in the previous year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.55 dividend. 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 1.80%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.