Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 176,812 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,901 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Steel Dynamics worth $22,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 33.3% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the second quarter worth approximately $52,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on STLD shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.25.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total value of $2,387,767.69. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 146,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,523,371.37. This represents a 10.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total transaction of $277,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,927,763.75. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,591 shares of company stock worth $3,885,938 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $117.06 on Thursday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.60 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The company has a market cap of $17.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $135.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.25.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.65%.

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.