United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Acquires Shares of 5,200 Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $593,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $128.00 on Wednesday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $128.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $19.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on STLD shares. 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 report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, KeyCorp raised 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.56.

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.