Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 15,187 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 111,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 15,187 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $12,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 99,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,340,000 after acquiring an additional 10,086 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $601,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,882,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 12,547 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 262,847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,983,000 after buying an additional 17,715 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upgraded 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. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $127.99 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $19.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $128.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.43.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly 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 firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has authorized 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 purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.