Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Cuts Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 496,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 18,928 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $58,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,008,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $118,787,000 after purchasing an additional 11,026 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $14,762,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 10,942 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 13.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $9,372,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STLD has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted 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. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.29.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $136.07 on Friday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $90.55 and a one year high of $151.34. The stock has a market cap of $21.49 billion, a PE ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $135.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.15.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The basic materials company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.02). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 29.49%. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 12.61%.

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.