Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 85 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 796 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $94,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 94.0% during the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 326 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STLD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $120.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.29.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $136.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.91. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $90.55 and a one year high of $151.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $135.97 and its 200 day moving average is $121.15.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The basic materials company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.63 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 29.49% and a net margin of 13.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.61%.

Steel Dynamics Profile

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.