Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Purchased by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 24.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STLD. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $130.11 on Thursday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $128.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.38.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.17 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 13.26%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.42%.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total value of $1,013,773.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 125,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,950,647.94. This represents a 5.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total transaction of $168,173.94. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 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. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on STLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 target price on Steel Dynamics and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.44.

Steel Dynamics Company 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.