Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service cut its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth $61,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STLD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $135.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $125.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The firm has a market cap of $20.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly 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 period last year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.