Vestcor Inc Has $806,000 Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Vestcor Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,065 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,301 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on STLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.56.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $127.14 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.41%.

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.