Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 886 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 24.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,530 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commerce Bank raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 1.2% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $754,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total transaction of $277,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,927,763.75. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STLD opened at $130.71 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.36. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 1.36.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.38.

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.