Panagora Asset Management Inc. Acquires 10,746 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. by 66.9%, acquiring an additional 10,746 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 26,817 shares worth approximately $3.35 million.
• Steel Dynamics reported earnings per share of $2.01 for the last quarter, missing estimates by 4 cents, with revenues falling 1.5% year-over-year to $4.57 billion.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, which will be paid on October 10th, representing an annual yield of 1.5% based on a 29.15% dividend payout ratio.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 66.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,746 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $3,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 9,201 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,151,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 533.8% during the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 77,723 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,722,000 after purchasing an additional 65,460 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 19,399 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,426,000 after purchasing an additional 3,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth about $867,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 66,738 shares in the company, valued at $8,456,371.98. This trade represents a 15.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $148.70.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of STLD traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $130.86. 947,006 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,183,389. The company has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.40. 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 52 week low of $103.17 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.15.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 analysts' expectations of $4.82 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 6.07%.Steel Dynamics's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.