Avalon Trust Co Makes New $42,000 Investment in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 85.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $289,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,546,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $194,933,000 after buying an additional 96,122 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,487,000 after buying an additional 253,802 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,374,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $156,836,000 after acquiring an additional 11,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,027,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $117,189,000 after acquiring an additional 114,485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of STLD stock opened at $127.14 on Monday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The firm has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $127.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.89. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. 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 announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.