5,200 Shares in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Bought by United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $593,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Bay Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $342,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 99,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,340,000 after purchasing an additional 10,086 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $601,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $8,882,000. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 12,547 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,431,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents 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. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock opened at $128.00 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $128.38 and its 200 day moving average is $128.43. The stock has a market cap of $19.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a PEG 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 current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus 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.