Aviva PLC Acquires 82,697 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Aviva PLC grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 1,414.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,543 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 82,697 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned 0.06% of Steel Dynamics worth $10,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,688,494 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $419,697,000 after purchasing an additional 30,350 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $336,426,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $158,487,000 after buying an additional 253,802 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,374,907 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $156,836,000 after acquiring an additional 11,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,027,341 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $117,189,000 after acquiring an additional 114,485 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on STLD shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $149.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STLD traded up $1.82 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $122.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 139,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,497,991. 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 company has a market cap of $18.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The business's 50 day moving average price is $126.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.73. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Steel Dynamics

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.