PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,347 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $2,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $289,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 96,122 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 253,802 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 11,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 114,485 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ STLD opened at $127.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.77. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on STLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Steel Dynamics

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.