Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 20.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,600 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,200 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $5,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,794 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 63.4% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,354 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 2,854 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $5,883,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $16,495,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,238 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 0.8%

Steel Dynamics stock traded up $1.04 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $133.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,098,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,537,193. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's fifty day moving average is $128.59 and its 200 day moving average is $126.52. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $103.17 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.74.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.17 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 13.26% and a net margin of 6.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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 announced that its board has initiated a share 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 buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total value of $1,013,773.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 125,319 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total value of $168,173.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 81,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,971,807.32. This trade represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STLD has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded 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. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 price objective on Steel Dynamics and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.44.

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.