Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Stake Lowered by Covestor Ltd

Covestor Ltd decreased its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 764 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 194 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $221,817,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,354,525 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,969,000 after purchasing an additional 21,143 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,137,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $168,550,000 after purchasing an additional 202,312 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.5% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,034,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $153,290,000 after purchasing an additional 25,280 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 743,697 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,831,000 after buying an additional 98,764 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on STLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Steel Dynamics from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.86.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD stock traded down $2.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $125.63. 473,914 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,237,888. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.72. The company has a market cap of $19.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $95.53 and a one year high of $151.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.05. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 22.89%. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.81 EPS. Steel Dynamics’s revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 21,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.81, for a total transaction of $2,873,010.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,265,376.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

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.