Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD Stock Purchased by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 112.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,764 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $7,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 4.3% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 22,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,990,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. StoneX Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth $460,000. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 23,242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,151,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Providence First Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $482,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on STLD shares. Wall Street Zen cut Steel Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $296.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $165.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $275.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.17.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, EVP Barry Schneider sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.91, for a total value of $12,445,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 196,399 shares in the company, valued at $48,885,675.09. The trade was a 20.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 2.1%

STLD stock opened at $227.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $238.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.13. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.22 and a fifty-two week high of $288.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $32.36 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.45.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The basic materials company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.48 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.43 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 18.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 31st will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.65%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, November 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 8.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Company Profile

Steel Dynamics, Inc is a U.S.-based steel producer and metals recycler founded in 1993. The company operates electric-arc-furnace steel mills and produces flat-rolled, structural, engineered bar, merchant bar and rail products for customers across a range of industries.

Its businesses also include metals recycling, steel fabrication and aluminum operations. Through these activities, Steel Dynamics collects and processes scrap metal, manufactures steel components and supplies products used in construction, automotive manufacturing, energy and other markets.

Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the company serves customers primarily in the United States and Mexico.