First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Buys 548 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,008,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $118,787,000 after purchasing an additional 11,026 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $14,762,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 363,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,975,000 after buying an additional 10,942 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 514,888 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,808,000 after acquiring an additional 59,668 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,087,000. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $132.60 on Tuesday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.55 and a 12-month high of $151.34. The company has a market cap of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $138.25 and a 200 day moving average of $123.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The basic materials company reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 12.89% and a return on equity of 27.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 12.76 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 14th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on STLD shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $120.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Steel Dynamics from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.17.

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.