Bank of Nova Scotia Trims Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 42.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 69,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 51,479 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $8,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of STLD. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 194.7% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total value of $168,173.94. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 81,812 shares in the company, valued at $10,971,807.32. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 5.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,749 shares of company stock worth $2,702,468 over the last 90 days. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of STLD opened at $121.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $18.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $130.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.17 and a 12 month high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $4.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 6.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.72 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STLD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.33.

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.