Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Trims Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec trimmed its holdings in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE - Free Report) by 87.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 101,818 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 705,381 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's holdings in Nucor were worth $11,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $398,077,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Nucor by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,404,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $280,627,000 after buying an additional 474,274 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Nucor by 528.6% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 507,715 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $59,235,000 after buying an additional 426,949 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Nucor by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,435,265 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $284,220,000 after acquiring an additional 384,205 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Nucor by 25.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 358,721 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.48% of the company's stock.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock traded down $1.68 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $115.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,928,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,084,621. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $120.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $26.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.73. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $176.59.

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

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Nucor's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Nucor news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total value of $4,115,065.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 162,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,590,128.67. The trade was a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on NUE. UBS Group raised Nucor from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Nucor from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Nucor from $156.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com cut Nucor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.33.

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.