Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Invests $342,000 in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $127.14 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $127.38 and a 200-day moving average of $127.82. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56. The company has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 17.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on STLD shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.56.

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.