Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Stock Holdings Increased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 82,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 17,489 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $9,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in STLD. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 1,051.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 8,520 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 25,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,265,000 after buying an additional 4,353 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,795,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 3.7% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, Trajan Wealth LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on STLD shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD opened at $133.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $125.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.17. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.60 and a 52-week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. 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 has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

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.