Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 660,047 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. by 33.3% in Q1, now holding 1,321,901 shares valued at $161 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in Steel Dynamics, with Erste Asset Management raising its stake by 132.8%, and total institutional ownership now at 82.41%.
• Steel Dynamics reported a net income of $2.01 per share for the last quarter, missing analyst expectations, amid a 1.5% year-over-year revenue decline.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 33.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,321,901 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 660,047 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.88% of Steel Dynamics worth $161,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of STLD. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 493.9% during the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the first quarter worth $32,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 194.7% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 277 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Steel Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $148.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.71, for a total value of $1,520,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 66,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,456,371.98. This trade represents a 15.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total transaction of $168,173.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 81,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,971,807.32. This trade represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of STLD traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $131.57. 394,239 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,604,675. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $103.17 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $129.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.30. The company has a market cap of $19.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 11.88%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.72 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

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.