Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Boosts Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 1,051.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 8,520 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 20.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 25,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,265,000 after buying an additional 4,353 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trajan Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the third quarter valued at about $209,000. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.22.

Insider Activity

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics 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 approximately $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of STLD opened at $133.32 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $20.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.17.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its 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 return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics 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.