Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Short Interest Update

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,960,000 shares, a decline of 25.8% from the November 15th total of 3,990,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.2% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 23,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,050,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.1% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Bank of America upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STLD traded down $4.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $122.87. 986,702 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,277,918. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $137.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Steel Dynamics has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm 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 company earned $3.47 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors 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 yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.65%.

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.