Geode Capital Management LLC Has $419.70 Million Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,688,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,350 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.42% of Steel Dynamics worth $419,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Diametric Capital LP bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $236,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 14,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Partners in Financial Planning bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $856,000. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $358,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade 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 the SEC website. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 5.9 %

Shares of STLD stock opened at $109.21 on Friday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.60 and a 52-week high of $155.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.87. The company has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. 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 posted 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 net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.61 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.67.

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.