Alliancebernstein L.P. Lowers Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 554,552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 99,447 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.36% of Steel Dynamics worth $63,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of STLD. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.8% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $693,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 12,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 4,195 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 11,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 92.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 8,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 3,866 shares during the period. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 10.1% during the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STLD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.67.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock opened at $109.21 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $128.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.