Mizuho Securities USA LLC Purchases 4,114 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 44.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,419 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,114 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $1,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position 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 valued at $289,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,007 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 548,086 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during the 4th 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 period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 192.4% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 250,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,577,000 after purchasing an additional 164,895 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,495,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on STLD shares. KeyCorp raised 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 research note on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup cut their price target on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $128.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $128.38 and its 200 day moving average is $128.43. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week 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.

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 net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. 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. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 20.41%.

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.