Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 1,705 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Wright Investors Service Inc. decreased its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 24.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,705 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 9,465.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 18,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after buying an additional 18,647 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $158,487,000 after acquiring an additional 253,802 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,579 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $15,880,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 9.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 230,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,904,000 after purchasing an additional 19,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $123.27 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $130.87 and a 200-day moving average of $126.54. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.09 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,306,106. This represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total value of $2,387,767.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at $19,523,371.37. This trade represents a 10.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938. 6.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.13.

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.