Merit Financial Group LLC Has $1.45 Million Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 35.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,177 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $1,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,008,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $118,787,000 after purchasing an additional 11,026 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $14,762,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 363,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,975,000 after purchasing an additional 10,942 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 514,888 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,808,000 after purchasing an additional 59,668 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $1,087,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of STLD stock opened at $135.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.87. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.55 and a twelve month high of $151.34. The company has a market capitalization of $21.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 1.47.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The basic materials company reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 27.62% and a net margin of 12.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 12.76 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were given a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 12.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on STLD. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $120.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Steel Dynamics from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.17.

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.