Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 20,203 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Fisher Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 33.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 40,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 20,203 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $4,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commerce Bank lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 1.2% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted 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 valued at $1,267,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STLD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $126.37 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $125.87 and its 200 day moving average is $127.61. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The company has a market capitalization of $19.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics 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.