Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 34.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,567 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,568 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $1,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of STLD. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 194.7% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 277 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other news, 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 owned 81,812 shares in the company, valued at $10,971,807.32. This trade represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total value of $1,013,773.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 125,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on STLD. 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $149.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $149.33.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD opened at $131.15 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $131.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $103.17 and a one year high of $155.56. The stock has a market cap of $19.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.17 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 13.26%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 26.42%.

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.

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