Vestcor Inc Lowers Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Vestcor Inc reduced its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,065 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,301 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on STLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD opened at $127.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.82. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. Research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics 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.