Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 1,775 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Janus Henderson Group PLC lessened its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,442 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,775 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $2,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Foster & Motley Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 35,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,602 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 27,373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,123,000 after buying an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,794 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 219,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,990,000 after purchasing an additional 9,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MFG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,337,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp upgraded 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.44.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total transaction of $1,013,773.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 125,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,950,647.94. This trade represents a 5.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD opened at $135.38 on Wednesday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.17 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The stock has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.04. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 26.42%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.