Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The stock had previously closed at $130.71, but opened at $134.68. Steel Dynamics shares last traded at $132.30, with a volume of 223,083 shares.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.9 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.98. The company has a market capitalization of $20.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value 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. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after buying an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,725,000. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 8.0% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 9,465.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 18,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 18,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,487,000 after purchasing an additional 253,802 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.