Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 710 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $1,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 85.8% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,546,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $194,933,000 after purchasing an additional 96,122 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during the 4th 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,027,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $117,189,000 after acquiring an additional 114,485 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 116.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $128,434,000 after buying an additional 548,086 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents 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 the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on STLD shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.67.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock opened at $125.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $126.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.74. The company has a market cap of $18.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.61 EPS. Analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics 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.