Bay Capital Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 3,002 Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,002 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $62,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 20,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,544,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 1.2% during the third 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. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 4.8% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $200,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 approximately $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research raised Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded 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 boosted their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD opened at $126.66 on Tuesday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $128.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.31.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 20.41%.

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.