denkapparat Operations GmbH Invests $204,000 in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 5.0% in 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 during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 3,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock opened at $123.97 on Friday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.60 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.52.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released 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 net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 dividend yield of 1.61%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.41%.

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.