Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Trims Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. cut its position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 184,400 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 14,300 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.08% of Nucor worth $21,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at about $565,000. InvesTrust bought a new position in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth $4,388,000. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in Nucor by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 8,455 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $987,000 after buying an additional 2,327 shares during the period. Covea Finance bought a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at $5,836,000. Finally, Grace & White Inc. NY grew its stake in Nucor by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 122,339 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $14,278,000 after purchasing an additional 13,100 shares during the period. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on NUE shares. UBS Group raised shares of Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nucor currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $160.33.

Nucor Stock Performance

Nucor stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $119.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,705,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,792,331. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $121.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.24. The company has a market capitalization of $27.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.67. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $97.59 and a 12-month high of $176.59.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. The firm had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Nucor Co. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.15%.

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.