Amundi Cuts Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Amundi decreased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 355,120 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,168 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.23% of Steel Dynamics worth $41,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,347 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $269,000. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 57,671 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,579,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,495,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 6,538 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 3,529 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on STLD. KeyCorp raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $148.56.

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Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $123.53 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $126.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.77. 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 fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The company has a market capitalization of $18.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61, 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 results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to purchase 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.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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