Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 35,542 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. by 427.4% in Q1, owning 43,857 shares valued at approximately $5.49 million.
• Insider selling activities included Miguel Alvarez selling 7,495 shares and Gabriel Shaheen selling 1,254 shares, indicating a decrease in ownership for both.
• Steel Dynamics recently reported Q2 earnings of $2.01 per share, missing estimates, with revenues of $4.57 billion compared to expectations of $4.82 billion.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 427.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,857 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 35,542 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $5,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the first quarter worth $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 194.7% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 277 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the first quarter worth $36,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD traded down $1.01 on Monday, reaching $121.36. 1,007,100 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,259,846. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $103.17 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The firm has a market cap of $18.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $130.79 and a 200-day moving average of $128.28.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company 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 company earned $2.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STLD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $149.33.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total value of $1,013,773.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 125,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,950,647.94. This represents a 5.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,749 shares of company stock worth $2,702,468 over the last ninety days. 6.30% of the stock is currently 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.