Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,282,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 446,024 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.01% of Steel Dynamics worth $2,085,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 99,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,340,000 after purchasing an additional 10,086 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $601,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,882,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 12,547 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 262,847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,983,000 after acquiring an additional 17,715 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on STLD shares. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of STLD stock opened at $128.34 on Thursday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $128.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.43. The stock has a market cap of $19.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.41%.

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.