Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Boosts Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,491 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,573 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $5,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Center For Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 3,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised 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 research note on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.56.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of STLD stock opened at $122.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, 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, 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 $128.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.10.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $2.61 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.41%.

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

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.