Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 634,355 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 53,789 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $145,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,844,501,000. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $586,702,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $564,590,000. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,793,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $303,970,000 after buying an additional 1,070,042 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the second quarter worth about $211,159,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP James Stanley Anderson sold 10,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.70, for a total transaction of $2,687,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 102,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,632,301.90. The trade was a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on STLD. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $275.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Steel Dynamics from $165.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $256.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.27.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $235.84 on Friday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $126.88 and a one year high of $288.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 3.18 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $242.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.52.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The basic materials company reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.06. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The business had revenue of $6.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 17.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.22%.

Steel Dynamics Company Profile

Steel Dynamics, Inc is a U.S.-based, diversified steel producer and metals recycler that operates an integrated network of mini-mills, finishing lines and fabrication facilities. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the company manufactures a broad range of steel products and provides downstream processing, coating and fabrication services to industrial customers. Its operations combine steelmaking using electric-arc furnaces with extensive metals recycling capabilities, allowing Steel Dynamics to convert scrap ferrous and nonferrous materials into finished steel products.

The company’s product portfolio includes flat-rolled steel (coiled and sheet products), structural steel and fabricated components, along with coated and painted steel used in consumer, industrial and construction applications.