Sterling Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 52.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,961 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $336,426,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 116.5% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,434,000 after acquiring an additional 548,086 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,487,000 after purchasing an additional 253,802 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 90.3% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 406,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,352,000 after purchasing an additional 192,767 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 192.4% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 250,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,577,000 after purchasing an additional 164,895 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 0.4 %

STLD opened at $118.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.60. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.17 and a 52 week high of $155.56. 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 quarterly 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 previous year, the company earned $2.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STLD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.67.

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.