O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Sells 31,825 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 428,716 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 31,825 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $48,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 221,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,911,000 after purchasing an additional 8,756 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 17.3% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,091 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 4.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 31,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,923,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $123.97 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $128.46 and its 200 day moving average is $128.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The stock has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.