Savvy Advisors Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Savvy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 21.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 448,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,603,000 after purchasing an additional 80,262 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 16,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $15,880,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on STLD shares. KeyCorp raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.67.

Insider Activity

In other 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 approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of STLD opened at $118.75 on Tuesday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.17 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.