Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Bought by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $1,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, March 31st. KeyCorp raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.67.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 1.4 %

STLD opened at $118.75 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $126.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $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. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $103.17 and a one year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share 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 previous year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits 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 board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.