Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 340,758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,259 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.22% of Steel Dynamics worth $38,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of STLD. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after buying an additional 6,579 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,725,000. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 35,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,602 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 9,465.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 18,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,376,000 after acquiring an additional 18,647 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 253,802 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $125.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $126.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.74.

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, equities research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STLD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Company 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.