Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 27,989 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,267 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,989 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.15% of Steel Dynamics worth $26,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. 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 bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $1,725,000. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $4,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,602 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 acquiring an additional 253,802 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,287 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Steel Dynamics Trading Down 5.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ STLD traded down $6.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $109.21. 2,180,751 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,466,900. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 in the prior year, the business posted $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.41%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on STLD shares. UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Steel Dynamics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $149.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

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.