Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Sold by Forsta AP Fonden

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden reduced its stake in Steel Dynamics by 25.6% during the first quarter, selling 9,700 shares and holding a total of 28,200 shares worth $3.5 million.
• Insiders have sold 20,749 shares of Steel Dynamics stock valued at approximately $2.7 million over the past three months, indicating a decrease in their holdings.
• Steel Dynamics reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.01 for the last quarter, missing estimates and reflecting a 1.5% year-over-year revenue decline.

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 25.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 9,700 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $3,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 8.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 29.4% in the 4th 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 during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,179,062 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $362,636,000 after purchasing an additional 393,516 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 433.1% in the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,775,286 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $202,507,000 after purchasing an additional 259,361 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on STLD. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on 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 upped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $148.70.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 81,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,971,807.32. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were 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 $8,456,371.98. The trade was a 15.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,749 shares of company stock worth $2,702,468 over the last quarter. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ STLD traded down $0.22 on Friday, reaching $127.27. 509,658 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,623,568. The company has a market cap of $18.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. 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 12 month low of $103.17 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $129.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.24.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is 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.