Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 483 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 72,950 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $8,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $336,426,000. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 85.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,400,000 after buying an additional 1,060,007 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 116.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,434,000 after buying an additional 548,086 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $158,487,000 after buying an additional 253,802 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 192.4% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 250,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,577,000 after acquiring an additional 164,895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $125.08 on Tuesday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.60 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $18.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $128.45 and its 200 day moving average is $128.90.

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

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has approved a share 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 buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on STLD. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.