Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Sold by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 261 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $1,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of STLD. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.9% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $838,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.7% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 65,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,260,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 32,697 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,122,000 after buying an additional 2,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the third quarter valued at $227,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $127.72 on Thursday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $125.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on STLD. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.22.

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.