Xponance Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Xponance Inc. cut its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 0.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 277 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $4,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 194.7% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total value of $1,013,773.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 125,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,950,647.94. The trade was a 5.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total transaction of $168,173.94. Following the transaction, the director owned 81,812 shares in the company, valued at $10,971,807.32. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $135.07 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $131.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.17 and a 12-month high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.04. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 13.26%. The business had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on STLD. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.00.

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.