Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Takes $2.70 Million Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,703,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in STLD. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Center For Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 3,252 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,036 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on STLD. StockNews.com downgraded Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 target price on Steel Dynamics and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised Steel Dynamics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $147.44.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD traded up $1.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $136.06. 1,297,262 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,508,616. The company has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $124.96 and a 200 day moving average of $128.20. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.17 and a 52-week high of $155.56. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.17 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.42%.

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.