Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 26.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 303,856 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 108,681 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $34,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $336,426,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $158,487,000 after purchasing an additional 253,802 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,374,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $156,836,000 after buying an additional 11,672 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,027,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $117,189,000 after buying an additional 114,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 116.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $128,434,000 after buying an additional 548,086 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $109.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.97. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $104.60 and a one year high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

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

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup cut 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. UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.