The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,025 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,239 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.06% of Steel Dynamics worth $9,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 3,252 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,036 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:STLD traded up $0.89 on Friday, reaching $130.52. 753,895 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,503,051. The company has a market capitalization of $19.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.44. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.17 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $123.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.11.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.04. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The business had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.42%.

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 that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on STLD shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.44.

Steel Dynamics Company 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.