Arizona State Retirement System Trims Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 42,577 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 191 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $4,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 117.3% in the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 6,538 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 3,529 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $10,555,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 759,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,662,000 after buying an additional 38,185 shares during the last quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. now owns 63,965 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,296,000 after purchasing an additional 11,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 340,758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,870,000 after purchasing an additional 74,259 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 0.2 %

STLD stock opened at $125.03 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56. 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 (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 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 business earned $2.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors 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 represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. 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%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on STLD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.