Natixis Has $12.12 Million Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Natixis raised its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 1,940.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,220 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 101,015 shares during the quarter. Natixis owned about 0.07% of Steel Dynamics worth $12,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in STLD. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on STLD. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $147.44.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

STLD traded up $4.89 on Thursday, hitting $127.38. 1,352,015 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,508,284. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $124.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.19. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.17 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The firm has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, 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 Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.17 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.41%.

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

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

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.