EP Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 267 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

EP Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $3,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 493.9% during the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 194.7% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.71, for a total transaction of $1,520,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 66,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,456,371.98. This represents a 15.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total value of $168,173.94. Following the sale, the director directly owned 81,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,971,807.32. The trade was a 1.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Steel Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.70.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD opened at $129.59 on Thursday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.17 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.18. The company has a market capitalization of $19.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.15%.

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.