Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $20.19 Million Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 176,984 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,758 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Steel Dynamics worth $20,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,403,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 308,197 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,156,000 after purchasing an additional 86,821 shares in the last quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $1,847,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 79,882 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,112,000 after purchasing an additional 15,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on STLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. 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. StockNews.com downgraded Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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, March 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $147.44.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of STLD opened at $131.17 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $123.61 and a 200-day moving average of $128.15. 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 $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.44. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.17 and a 1 year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.42%.

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.

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