Vest Financial LLC Reduces Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Vest Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 74.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,003 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 224,532 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.05% of Steel Dynamics worth $9,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,794 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. MFG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,337,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,406 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 63.4% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,354 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $5,883,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was 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 now owns 125,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,950,647.94. This trade represents a 5.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD opened at $133.56 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $126.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.21. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.17 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The firm has a market cap of $19.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.04. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on STLD. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 target price on Steel Dynamics and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. KeyCorp upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $147.44.

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.

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