ING Groep NV Raises Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

ING Groep NV raised its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,316 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $11,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 481.2% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 328,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,461,000 after acquiring an additional 272,226 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 65.3% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 571,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $74,064,000 after purchasing an additional 225,832 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the first quarter valued at $32,178,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,137,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $168,550,000 after purchasing an additional 202,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth $24,670,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on STLD shares. UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.29.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total value of $2,387,767.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at $19,523,371.37. This trade represents a 10.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,438 over the last 90 days. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $137.81 on Friday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $128.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 1.31.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. Steel Dynamics’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.65%.

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.