Erste Asset Management GmbH Has $364,000 Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Erste Asset Management GmbH lessened its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 71.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,095 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of STLD. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wolfe Research raised Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup cut their target price on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 3.2 %

STLD stock opened at $127.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.82. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53. The company has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share 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 company earned $2.61 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.