Ameriprise Financial Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 24.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,981,948 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 645,949 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 1.30% of Steel Dynamics worth $222,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,628,403 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $642,033,000 after acquiring an additional 451,630 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,688,494 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $419,697,000 after purchasing an additional 30,350 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,592,670 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $409,816,000 after buying an additional 815,629 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,179,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $362,636,000 after buying an additional 393,516 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $336,426,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $130.52. The company had a trading volume of 753,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,503,051. The firm has a market cap of $19.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.44. The company's 50-day moving average price is $123.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.13. 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 one year low of $103.17 and a one year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.04. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 26.42%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a share 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 buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 price target on shares of Steel Dynamics and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

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.