Natixis Advisors LLC Has $4.39 Million Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,521 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $4,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Center For Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 3,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 3.1 %

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $122.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.42 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.60 and a twelve month 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $128.22 and a 200-day moving average of $128.00.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. On average, 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 stock buyback program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be 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 is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on STLD shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given 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.

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.