Maripau Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 2,654 Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Maripau Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,654 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth approximately $61,000. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on STLD shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $146.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company'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 value of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company's stock.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ STLD traded up $1.35 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $127.72. 2,321,523 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,336,560. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $125.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.61. 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 current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $19.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company posted $2.61 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

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