National Pension Service Decreases Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

National Pension Service lessened its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 246,644 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 9,850 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.16% of Steel Dynamics worth $28,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ:STLD traded up $1.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $127.72. The stock had a trading volume of 2,523,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,338,233. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $125.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.61. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 approved a share repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost 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 1.57%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on STLD shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wolfe Research raised Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $146.22.

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.