AlphaQuest LLC Has $196,000 Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 250.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,716 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,227 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $196,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp raised 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. Morgan Stanley raised Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of STLD opened at $127.14 on Monday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.89. The stock has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

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

Steel Dynamics Company 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.