Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 262,847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,715 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Steel Dynamics worth $29,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in STLD. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,725,000. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 35,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,027,000 after buying an additional 2,602 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in the 4th 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, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 27,373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,123,000 after buying an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Steel Dynamics 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 value of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on STLD. Morgan Stanley upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup dropped 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. Finally, KeyCorp raised 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $123.97 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $128.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.52. The stock has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $104.60 and a one year high of $155.56.

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

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has approved 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 purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management 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 issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. 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.