Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Sells 175,194 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lowered its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 73.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 175,194 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $7,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commerce Bank grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 1.2% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on STLD shares. Morgan Stanley raised Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. KeyCorp upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of STLD opened at $127.14 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $127.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.82. The company has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. 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 results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share 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 previous year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. Research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

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

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.