AQR Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has increased its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. by 302.3%, owning approximately 0.23% of the company and valued at about $42.99 million.
• The recent earnings report revealed that Steel Dynamics missed earnings expectations, reporting $2.01 per share against an estimate of $2.05, with a revenue of $4.57 billion, down 1.5% year-over-year.
• Steel Dynamics announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share payable on October 10th, reflecting a 1.5% dividend yield based on its annualized dividend of $2.00.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 302.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 350,376 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 263,278 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Steel Dynamics worth $42,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 24.4% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 6,687 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 10.4% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 31.6% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,511 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,441,000 after buying an additional 6,604 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 124.1% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 948 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,583 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of STLD stock opened at $134.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.06. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $103.17 and a 1-year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 6.07%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.71, for a total transaction of $1,520,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 66,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,456,371.98. This represents a 15.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.

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