Norges Bank purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,949,293 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $336,426,000. Norges Bank owned 1.94% of Steel Dynamics at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 6,081 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $694,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 17,878 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 15,911 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 2,667 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $495,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230,267 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,055,000 after buying an additional 27,989 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $149.67.
Read Our Latest Report on STLD
Steel Dynamics Price Performance
Shares of STLD stock traded down $10.28 on Thursday, reaching $117.08. 559,042 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,859,333. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $128.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.97. The company has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34.
Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.41%.
Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics
In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Steel Dynamics
(
Free Report)
Steel Dynamics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer and metal recycler in the United States. The Steel Operations segment offers hot rolled, cold rolled, and coated steel products; parallel flange beams and channel sections, flat bars, large unequal leg angles, and reinforcing steel bars, as well as standard strength carbon, intermediate alloy hardness, and premium grade rail products; engineered special-bar-quality products, merchant-bar-quality products, and other engineered round steel bars; channels, angles, flats, merchant rounds, and reinforcing steel bars; and specialty shapes and light structural steel products.
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