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

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,750,000 shares, an increase of 24.2% from the December 15th total of 3,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,420,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on STLD. BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Steel Dynamics from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.88.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $125.83. 1,359,763 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,395,611. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.46. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics will post 9.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total transaction of $269,720.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,306,106. This represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 146,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. The trade was a 10.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 2nd quarter valued at $344,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 9.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 225,239 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,168,000 after acquiring an additional 19,348 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 8.1% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 48,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,280,000 after acquiring an additional 3,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 9.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 230,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,904,000 after purchasing an additional 19,853 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

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.