Caprock Group LLC Boosts Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 27.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,816 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth $62,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of STLD opened at $145.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $131.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.42. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.60 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.47 EPS. Steel Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,306,106. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of Steel Dynamics 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 in the company, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. This trade represents a 10.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,591 shares of company stock worth $3,885,938. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Bank of America raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.29.

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.