Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Bought by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 257,361 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,740 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned approximately 0.17% of Steel Dynamics worth $32,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $336,426,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,592,670 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $409,816,000 after purchasing an additional 815,629 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 8.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 451,630 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 18,398.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 447,661 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $55,993,000 after purchasing an additional 445,241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,179,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $362,636,000 after buying an additional 393,516 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STLD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 price objective on Steel Dynamics and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research 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 research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $147.44.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Steel Dynamics stock traded down $1.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $134.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,191,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,541,623. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.44. The company's fifty day moving average is $125.62 and its 200-day moving average is $127.26. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.17 and a 12-month high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.17 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 26.42%.

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

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total value of $1,013,773.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 125,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,950,647.94. This trade represents a 5.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.