Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,340,000 shares, a drop of 15.9% from the February 13th total of 3,970,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on STLD shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.2% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $127.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $127.65 and a 200-day moving average of $127.98. 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, 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.