Trustmark National Bank Trust Department Invests $920,000 in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Trustmark National Bank Trust Department bought a new position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $920,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the fourth quarter valued at $3,481,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 94.2% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 262,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,665,000 after acquiring an additional 15,058 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor in the first quarter valued at about $1,847,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Nucor by 53.2% in the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 13,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares in the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on NUE shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.29.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of NUE stock traded down $1.99 on Tuesday, reaching $161.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,161,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,463,545. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.69 billion, a PE ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 4.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Nucor Co. has a one year low of $140.07 and a one year high of $203.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $161.67 and its 200 day moving average is $176.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $8.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.69 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.71%.

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.