Navellier & Associates Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

Navellier & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 267.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 31,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,084 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $5,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Optas LLC increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 13.2% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 5,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.1% during the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,764 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.3% during the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on STLD. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $190.00 to $241.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Bank of America lowered Steel Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $180.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $214.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 4,825 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.58, for a total transaction of $1,088,423.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 122,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,578,734.06. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth W. Cornew sold 5,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.87, for a total value of $1,124,350.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 31,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,038,206.13. This represents a 13.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Steel Dynamics stock opened at $237.46 on Wednesday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $119.89 and a one year high of $238.74. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $191.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 3.13 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.48.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The basic materials company reported $2.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by ($0.01). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 7.22%.The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. Steel Dynamics’s revenue was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 14.77 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 22.67%.

About Steel Dynamics

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.