Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Bought by Mariner LLC

Mariner LLC increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $3,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

STLD stock opened at $113.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.31. The stock has a market cap of $17.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.17 and a 52 week 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the business earned $2.61 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a share 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 purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STLD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.