Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. by 52.1%, resulting in holdings worth $752,000 after selling 6,538 shares in the first quarter.
• Research analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for Steel Dynamics, with a consensus suggesting a Moderate Buy and an average price target of $149.33.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, yielding an annualized dividend of $2.00 and representing a payout ratio of 29.15%.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 52.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,009 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,538 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of STLD. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 6,687 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 63.4% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,354 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,854 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,511 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,441,000 after purchasing an additional 6,604 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,495,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total value of $168,173.94. Following the sale, the director directly owned 81,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,971,807.32. The trade was a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total value of $1,013,773.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 125,319 shares in the company, valued at $16,950,647.94. This trade represents a 5.64% 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 Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ STLD traded up $4.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $130.83. 1,031,232 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,242,055. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 3.13. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.17 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $19.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $131.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.13.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last released its 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $149.33.

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.