Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 7,321 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 103,030 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,321 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $11,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after buying an additional 6,579 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $1,725,000. Foster & Motley Inc. grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 35,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,602 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 27,373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,794 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 4.6%

STLD stock opened at $136.53 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $20.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.44. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $123.77 and a 200-day moving average of $128.16.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.17 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.67 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.42%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on STLD shares. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 target price on Steel Dynamics and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.44.

Steel Dynamics 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.