Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 505,637 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,914,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 505,637 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.91% of Steel Dynamics worth $332,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Barclays PLC increased its position 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 valued at $56,603,000 after acquiring an additional 80,262 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the third quarter valued at $15,880,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,330,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $650,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock opened at $118.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $125.36 and a 200 day moving average of $128.41. The company has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’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 owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on STLD shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.11.

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.