Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Sold by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 516,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 22,300 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.34% of Steel Dynamics worth $58,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,152,812 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $131,501,000 after purchasing an additional 84,716 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $654,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 783,849 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $89,414,000 after acquiring an additional 219,787 shares during the period. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $14,829,000. Finally, Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $518,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of STLD stock traded down $2.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $129.89. 1,424,471 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,510,487. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The stock's 50 day moving average is $125.31 and its 200-day moving average is $128.28. 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 cap of $19.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.44.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. Analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of 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 research note on Monday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.44.

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.