Vest Financial LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC has significantly reduced its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. by 89.2%, now owning 8,397 shares after selling 69,606 shares in the second quarter.
• Several hedge funds have increased their stakes in Steel Dynamics, with CWM LLC boosting its position by a striking 176.0% during the same period.
• Analysts maintain a moderate outlook on Steel Dynamics, with a consensus price target of $149.89 and a mix of ratings, including 8 Buy ratings and 4 Hold ratings.

Vest Financial LLC lowered its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 89.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,397 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 69,606 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $1,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 33.2% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 2,866 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 714 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.6% during the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 11,443 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,465,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 176.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 22,994 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,943,000 after buying an additional 14,664 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the second quarter worth about $4,221,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 16.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 23,874 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,056,000 after buying an additional 3,327 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on STLD shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $143.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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 target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $149.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ STLD opened at $146.05 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.32. 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 one year low of $103.17 and a one year high of $155.56. The firm has a market cap of $21.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.40.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $4.82 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 6.07% and a return on equity of 11.88%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.72 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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