Johnson Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 258.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,836 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,045 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $336,426,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,592,670 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $409,816,000 after purchasing an additional 815,629 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 116.5% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $128,434,000 after acquiring an additional 548,086 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised 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 worth $642,033,000 after purchasing an additional 451,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 14.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 393,516 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised Steel Dynamics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 target price on Steel Dynamics and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $147.44.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ STLD traded up $0.58 during trading on Thursday, hitting $130.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,274,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,503,877. The company has a market capitalization of $19.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company's 50-day moving average price is $123.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.16. 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 12 month low of $103.17 and a 12 month high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 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 firm had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is 26.42%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

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.