Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Sells 77,198 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 259,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 77,198 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $29,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. KeyCorp raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 5.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $109.21 on Friday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $128.13 and a 200-day moving average of $128.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $16.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 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 period last year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.83%. 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 (DPR) is 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.