Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 92,527 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $10,555,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Steel Dynamics as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.00% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on STLD shares. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 1.2 %

Steel Dynamics stock traded up $1.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $128.62. The stock had a trading volume of 1,366,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,366,553. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.60 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $127.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.98.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics Profile

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.