Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Buys 5,940 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. by 51.9%, purchasing an additional 5,940 shares for a total of 17,384 shares valued at approximately $2.17 million.
• Steel Dynamics reported a $2.01 EPS for the most recent quarter, falling short of analysts' estimates of $2.05, with revenues of $4.57 billion, which was also below expectations.
• The company plans to issue a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 1.6%, with a payout ratio of 29.15%.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 51.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,384 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,940 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $2,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,113 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 35.9% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 318 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 25.0% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.3% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Steel Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. One 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $148.70.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock traded up $6.92 during trading on Friday, hitting $132.68. 2,463,401 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,260,762. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.17 and a 1 year high of $155.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.20.

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 (EPS) 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 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 for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.71, for a total value of $1,520,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 66,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,456,371.98. This trade represents a 15.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the firm's 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 directly owned 81,812 shares in the company, valued at $10,971,807.32. The trade was 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.

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.