Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Reduces Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec reduced its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. by 17.6% during the first quarter, owning approximately 107,748 shares valued at $13.5 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings for Steel Dynamics, with Wells Fargo giving it a "strong-buy" rating and others increasing the price targets significantly.
• Steel Dynamics recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing a yield of 1.5%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 30th.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lessened its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 17.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,748 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 23,020 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned 0.07% of Steel Dynamics worth $13,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 493.9% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 194.7% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 277 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on STLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Steel Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $148.70.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 0.5%

STLD traded down $0.65 on Friday, hitting $130.92. The company had a trading volume of 815,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,255,818. The company has a market cap of $19.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.17 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $129.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.26.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last released 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%.The company's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.72 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

Steel Dynamics Company 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.