Bridgewater Associates LP Acquires 34,752 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 235,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,752 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $26,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on STLD shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. KeyCorp upgraded 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 note on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.67.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 0.4 %

STLD stock opened at $118.24 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.17 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $17.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $126.17 and a 200-day moving average of $128.60.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period in the prior 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 announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase 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 stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.41%.

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.