PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co Purchases New Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $570,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $336,426,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $409,816,000 after acquiring an additional 815,629 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 valued at $642,033,000 after purchasing an additional 451,630 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 14.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 393,516 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,775,286 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $202,507,000 after purchasing an additional 259,361 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 10.3%

Shares of STLD stock traded up $12.64 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $135.71. The company had a trading volume of 3,316,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,536,116. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.17 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The company has a market capitalization of $20.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.44. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $125.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.19.

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

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.42%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on STLD shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised Steel Dynamics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 price target on Steel Dynamics and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.44.

Insider Activity

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total transaction 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 $16,950,647.94. This trade represents a 5.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

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.