Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD Stock Position Raised by Trexquant Investment LP

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. by 533.8% in Q1, acquiring 65,460 additional shares for a total of 77,723 shares valued at approximately $9.72 million.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Steel Dynamics, with Morgan Stanley setting a new target at $145.00 and JPMorgan Chase raising theirs to $150.00, indicating a strong outlook for the stock.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.5%, with the payout ratio currently at 29.15%.

Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 533.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,723 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 65,460 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.05% of Steel Dynamics worth $9,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $258,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,775,286 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $202,507,000 after acquiring an additional 259,361 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,795,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 79,882 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,112,000 after acquiring an additional 15,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,847,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

STLD traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $129.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 686,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,594,203. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.05 billion, a PE ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.17.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 11.88%. The firm's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is 29.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STLD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Steel Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $148.70.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 66,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,456,371.98. This trade represents a 15.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Steel Dynamics 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.