Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases 85,729 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 240.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 121,377 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 85,729 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.08% of Steel Dynamics worth $13,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,301,000 after buying an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $1,725,000. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 8.0% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position 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 period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 9.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD stock traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $118.84. 314,703 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,499,031. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $103.17 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $17.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share 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 last year, the business posted $2.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 1.68%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is 20.41%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley raised Steel Dynamics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $149.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.