APG Asset Management N.V. Sells 5,279 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

APG Asset Management N.V. cut its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 64.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,890 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,279 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V.'s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in STLD. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,579 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $1,725,000. Foster & Motley Inc. grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 35,299 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,602 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $158,487,000 after acquiring an additional 253,802 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 27,373 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $149.11.

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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD traded up $1.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $118.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,049,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,504,314. The company has a market cap of $17.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.17 and a 1 year high of $155.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $125.69 and a 200 day moving average of $128.47. 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 (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

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

Steel Dynamics Company 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.