Harbour Investments Inc. Reduces Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Harbour Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 170 shares during the quarter. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 85.8% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $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 stake in Steel Dynamics by 6.6% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 96,122 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of 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 worth $158,487,000 after acquiring an additional 253,802 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $156,836,000 after acquiring an additional 11,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 12.5% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 114,485 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reiterated 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. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ STLD opened at $128.52 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results 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 previous year, the company earned $2.61 EPS. Analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics 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 transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.