Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 144,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,495,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of STLD opened at $124.94 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56. 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 (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.41%.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on STLD. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. KeyCorp raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.56.

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.