Hennessy Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $2,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STLD has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.88.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ STLD opened at $125.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.36. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $129.13 and a 200-day moving average of $126.45.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.47 earnings per share. Steel Dynamics’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 16.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total transaction of $277,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,927,763.75. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

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.