Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Sold by Wambolt & Associates LLC

Wambolt & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,807 shares during the period. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $2,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commerce Bank increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 1.2% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Center For Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 3,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on STLD. UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley raised Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.56.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 3.3 %

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $126.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $104.60 and a one year high of $155.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92, a P/E/G 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 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 last year, the business posted $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

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.