DnB Asset Management AS Decreases Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

DnB Asset Management AS trimmed its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 48.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 27,789 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $3,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on STLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.67.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $125.08 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.90.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.