Hosking Partners LLP Has $19.01 Million Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Hosking Partners LLP lowered its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 18.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 166,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 38,793 shares during the period. Hosking Partners LLP owned approximately 0.11% of Steel Dynamics worth $19,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in STLD. Commerce Bank boosted its position 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 valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 10.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.0% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on STLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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 initiated coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $133.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.17. 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 (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 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. This is a positive change 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 is currently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.