Sapient Capital LLC Makes New $38.64 Million Investment in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 327,210 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $38,644,000. Steel Dynamics accounts for 1.2% of Sapient Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Sapient Capital LLC owned 0.20% of Steel Dynamics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 165.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,014,956 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $212,447,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,751 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $90,665,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 183.6% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,380,388 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $115,166,000 after acquiring an additional 893,705 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 9.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,207,455 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $771,198,000 after acquiring an additional 800,656 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,034,652 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $296,486,000 after acquiring an additional 684,975 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on STLD shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $120.00 to $119.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $117.43.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ:STLD traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $144.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,024,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,181,181. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.55 and a fifty-two week high of $151.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $133.78 and a 200-day moving average of $119.81.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The basic materials company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.02). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 29.49% and a net margin of 13.04%. The business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.37 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 11.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.61%.

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.