IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Has $745,000 Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd cut its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 59.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,572 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of STLD. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the third quarter valued at $201,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 221,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,911,000 after buying an additional 8,756 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 3.1 %

STLD stock 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. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.52. The company has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has approved 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STLD has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.