HighTower Advisors LLC Has $10 Million Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,907 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 9,010 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.05% of Steel Dynamics worth $9,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 433.1% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,816,525 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $227,211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475,767 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 531.0% during the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,191,669 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $149,054,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,813 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,592,670 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $409,816,000 after purchasing an additional 815,629 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the first quarter worth approximately $62,470,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,628,403 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $642,033,000 after purchasing an additional 451,630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.71, for a total transaction of $1,520,520.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total transaction of $168,173.94. Following the transaction, the director owned 81,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Steel Dynamics stock traded up $0.4960 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $125.9460. The company's stock had a trading volume of 718,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,613,523. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.38. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.17 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $129.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.18.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 6.07%.The firm had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 29.15%.

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.