Swedbank AB Increases Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 219,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,462 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.14% of Steel Dynamics worth $24,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 37,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,323,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $684,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 74.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,118,000 after acquiring an additional 7,928 shares during the period. Center For Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 3,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 24,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,927,763.75. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of STLD opened at $130.71 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $126.04 and its 200 day moving average is $126.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The company has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 1.36.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) 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 17.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. Research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.78%.

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.