Comerica Bank Sells 2,279 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Comerica Bank lessened its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,812 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,279 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $2,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 448,942 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $56,603,000 after acquiring an additional 80,262 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $216,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 30,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,502,000 after buying an additional 1,468 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company's stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on STLD shares. KeyCorp upgraded shares of 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 set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wolfe Research raised Steel Dynamics from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $147.44.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of STLD stock traded up $0.89 on Friday, hitting $130.52. The stock had a trading volume of 753,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,503,051. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $123.59 and a 200 day moving average of $128.11. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.17 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The stock has a market cap of $19.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.44.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.17 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.42%.

Steel Dynamics 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.