AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Purchases Shares of 124,997 Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 124,997 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $14,762,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned about 0.08% of Steel Dynamics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 43.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 5,510 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 21,577 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,800,000 after purchasing an additional 4,154 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 36.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 59,369 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,970,000 after purchasing an additional 15,865 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,852 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 64,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,388,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares during the last quarter. 81.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of STLD stock traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $140.88. 1,229,479 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,264,136. The firm has a market cap of $22.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 1.41. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.55 and a 1 year high of $141.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $123.24 and a 200 day moving average of $114.66.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The basic materials company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.22 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 29.49% and a net margin of 13.04%. The company's revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 14th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on STLD. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $120.00 to $119.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $118.13.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.