Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Acquires 23,469 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

Key Points

• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC significantly increased its stake in Steel Dynamics, acquiring 23,469 shares and boosting its holdings by 203.2% in the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 35,016 shares valued at $4,380,000.
• Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Steel Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating, with various other firms also adjusting their price targets and ratings, providing a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $148.70.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.6%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 30th.

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 203.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,016 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 23,469 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $4,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 24.4% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 6,687 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 10.4% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $190,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 31.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,511 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,441,000 after acquiring an additional 6,604 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 124.1% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 948 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,583 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STLD traded up $6.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $132.68. 2,463,401 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,260,762. The company has a market cap of $19.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $129.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.21. 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 twelve month low of $103.17 and a twelve month high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 6.07%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.72 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on STLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $148.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 66,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,456,371.98. This trade represents a 15.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total transaction of $168,173.94. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

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.