California State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,790 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,070 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.12% of Steel Dynamics worth $20,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STLD. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 400 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on STLD. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 target price on Steel Dynamics and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.44.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock traded down $2.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $132.87. 577,714 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,532,431. The stock has a market cap of $19.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.44. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.17 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $125.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.19.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $4.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.42%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total transaction of $1,013,773.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 125,319 shares in the company, valued at $16,950,647.94. The trade was a 5.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.