Pitcairn Co. Grows Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Pitcairn Co. increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 3.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 92.5% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 8,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 3,866 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 99.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 150,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,005,000 after acquiring an additional 75,343 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 48.0% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,672,000 after purchasing an additional 4,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $419,000. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 5.9 %

STLD opened at $109.21 on Monday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $104.60 and a one year 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced 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 net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. Analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on STLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.67.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.