Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 27.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,993 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 25,064 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.08% of Steel Dynamics worth $13,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of STLD. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,499 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,076,000 after buying an additional 1,816 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth approximately $2,021,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 3.1% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 20,177 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,544,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.2% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics
In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
STLD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised Steel Dynamics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $148.56.
View Our Latest Stock Report on STLD
Steel Dynamics Price Performance
Shares of STLD traded up $0.34 on Wednesday, reaching $128.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,243,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,394,305. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.60 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.10, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $128.38 and a 200 day moving average of $128.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.
Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.
Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.41%.
About Steel Dynamics
(
Free Report)
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.
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