LSV Asset Management Reduces Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

LSV Asset Management cut its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,152,888 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 131,200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned about 0.76% of Steel Dynamics worth $131,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $336,426,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 116.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $128,434,000 after buying an additional 548,086 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position 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. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 90.3% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 406,343 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $46,352,000 after purchasing an additional 192,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 192.4% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 250,621 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $28,577,000 after acquiring an additional 164,895 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $118.87. The company had a trading volume of 336,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,499,172. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $103.17 and a one year high of $155.56. The firm has a market cap of $17.82 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.60.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 business posted $2.61 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on STLD. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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 research note on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com raised Steel Dynamics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $149.11.

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.