Columbus Macro LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Columbus Macro LLC lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 31.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,271 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 544 shares during the quarter. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on STLD shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.13.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,723,707. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total transaction of $277,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,927,763.75. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ STLD opened at $126.38 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The stock has a market cap of $19.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $125.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.24.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.61 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.78%.

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.