Empirical Finance LLC Raises Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 481.2% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 328,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,461,000 after acquiring an additional 272,226 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 65.3% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 571,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $74,064,000 after purchasing an additional 225,832 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,178,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $24,670,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,604,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $534,295,000 after buying an additional 152,254 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock opened at $139.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.31. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $104.60 and a one year high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.09.

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

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid 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 1.32%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.65%.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at $19,523,371.37. The trade was a 10.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,723,707. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,591 shares of company stock worth $3,608,438 over the last quarter. 6.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.29.

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.