SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 25,569 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 1,411.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,381 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,569 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $3,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake 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 period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 81,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,971,807.32. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 125,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,950,647.94. This represents a 5.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $133.48. 1,258,551 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,543,006. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.17 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is 26.42%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.