Headlands Technologies LLC Acquires Shares of 25,844 Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 25,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,948,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in STLD. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,688,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $419,697,000 after acquiring an additional 30,350 shares during the period. Diametric Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 14,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $856,000. Finally, Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $358,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $125.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. 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 50 day moving average price of $128.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.90. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $104.60 and a one year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. 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 for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.67.

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.