Swiss National Bank Raises Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Swiss National Bank grew its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 20.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 836,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 143,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.39% of Steel Dynamics worth $18,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. now owns 256,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,048,000 after purchasing an additional 28,050 shares during the period. Advisor Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $202,000. Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,357,000. British Airways Pensions Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $10,394,000. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $389,000. 80.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

In other news, EVP Russell B. Rinn acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.30 per share, with a total value of $131,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 231,318 shares in the company, valued at $6,083,663.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gabriel Shaheen bought 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.11 per share, with a total value of $80,885.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,618,555.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 42,400 shares of company stock worth $1,023,393 in the last 90 days. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

STLD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group decreased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $43.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TheStreet cut shares of Steel Dynamics from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.15.

Shares of NASDAQ STLD opened at $24.43 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $23.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.35. The company has a current ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.43. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.98 and a 12-month high of $35.78.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.09. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 6.39%. The company had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to buy up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 32.26%.

Steel Dynamics Company Profile

Steel Dynamics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the steel products manufacturing and metals recycling businesses in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Steel Operations, Metals Recycling Operations, and Steel Fabrication Operations. The Steel Operations segment offers hot roll, cold roll, and coated steel products; structural steel beams, pilings, and standard and premium grade rail products; engineered special-bar-quality products; and merchant-bar-quality products, including rounds, angles, flats, reinforcing bars, and channels and specialty steel sections.

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