Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock Position Trimmed by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC trimmed its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 259,598 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 77,198 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned 0.17% of Steel Dynamics worth $29,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,688,494 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $419,697,000 after acquiring an additional 30,350 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $336,426,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 253,802 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,374,907 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $156,836,000 after purchasing an additional 11,672 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,027,341 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $117,189,000 after purchasing an additional 114,485 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of STLD traded up $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $119.11. The company had a trading volume of 575,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,496,175. The stock has a market cap of $17.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company's 50 day moving average price is $126.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.72. 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 52 week low of $103.17 and a 52 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 in the prior year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on STLD. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $149.67.

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.