Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,476,914 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,404 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.97% of Steel Dynamics worth $168,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 85.8% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $289,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,007 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 6.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,546,104 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $194,933,000 after acquiring an additional 96,122 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,374,907 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $156,836,000 after acquiring an additional 11,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,027,341 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $117,189,000 after acquiring an additional 114,485 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

STLD stock traded down $3.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $122.67. The stock had a trading volume of 6,338,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,389,419. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The stock's 50 day moving average is $128.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.00. 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 firm has a market cap of $18.39 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34.

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

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 given a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on STLD. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Steel Dynamics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $148.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.00% 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.