Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Takes $10.79 Million Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 94,556 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $10,786,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.06% of Steel Dynamics as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of STLD. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,794 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 219,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,990,000 after buying an additional 9,462 shares during the last quarter. MFG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $1,337,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 74.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,118,000 after acquiring an additional 7,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 85.9% in the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 21,504 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 9,938 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 125,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,950,647.94. The trade was a 5.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ:STLD traded down $1.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $134.97. 1,191,393 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,541,624. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $125.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.31. The firm has a market cap of $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.44. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.17 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.04. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 26.42%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.