Natixis Increases Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Natixis boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 1,940.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 106,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 101,015 shares during the period. Natixis owned 0.07% of Steel Dynamics worth $12,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 189,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,579,000 after purchasing an additional 22,018 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,592,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $409,816,000 after buying an additional 815,629 shares during the period. Curi RMB Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 19,762 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,254,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,179,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $362,636,000 after acquiring an additional 393,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $466,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.11.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of STLD opened at $118.29 on Friday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.17 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $125.36 and its 200 day moving average is $128.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35.

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 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. 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%.

About Steel Dynamics

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.