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

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

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in STLD. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on STLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.67.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 0.2 %

STLD stock opened at $125.03 on Friday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The company has a market capitalization of $18.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $126.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

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.