Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD Shares Sold by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. by 23.4%, selling 44,296 shares and now owns approximately 0.10% of the company, valued at $18.12 million.
• JPMorgan Chase raised its price target for Steel Dynamics shares from $138.00 to $150.00, while Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to a "strong-buy" rating, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $148.70.
• Steel Dynamics announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing a yield of 1.6%, with the payment scheduled for October 10th.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lessened its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 23.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,874 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 44,296 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S owned approximately 0.10% of Steel Dynamics worth $18,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,113 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 35.9% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 318 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 1.6% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,803 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on STLD shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Steel Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $148.70.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

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

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock traded up $6.92 on Friday, hitting $132.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,463,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,260,762. The company has a market capitalization of $19.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.38. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.17 and a 1 year high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 3.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $129.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.21.

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

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

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.