Brown Advisory Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Brown Advisory Inc. cut its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 96 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 24.4% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 6,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 10.4% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 63.4% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 2,854 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 31.6% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after buying an additional 6,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $16,495,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In other news, Director Gabriel Shaheen sold 1,254 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.11, for a total transaction of $168,173.94. Following the transaction, the director owned 81,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,971,807.32. This trade represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total value of $1,013,773.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 125,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,950,647.94. This represents a 5.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of STLD opened at $133.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $131.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.74. The company has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.56.

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

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 26.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.33.

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.