Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Trims Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lowered its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,100,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 559,937 shares during the period. Steel Dynamics accounts for 0.6% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 1.38% of Steel Dynamics worth $239,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock opened at $128.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a PEG 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 current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.99.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.50 dividend. 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 1.56%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics 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.