First Merchants Corp Sells 1,876 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

Key Points

• First Merchants Corp reduced its stake in Steel Dynamics, selling 1,876 shares and trimming its position by 51.9%, leaving it with 1,738 shares valued at approximately $222,000.
• Steel Dynamics recently reported Q2 earnings with earnings per share of $2.01, which missed estimates, and a revenue of $4.57 billion, compared to a consensus expectation of $4.82 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.4%, reflecting a payout ratio of 29.15%.

First Merchants Corp trimmed its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,738 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,876 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $216,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 874 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $190,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 47.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,579 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 1,411.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,381 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,425,000 after purchasing an additional 25,569 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ STLD opened at $147.78 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $21.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $132.87 and a 200-day moving average of $129.83. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.17 and a 52-week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 6.07%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on STLD. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $143.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $148.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 66,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,456,371.98. The trade was a 15.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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