Advisory Services Network LLC Increases Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

Advisory Services Network LLC grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 35.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,186 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,155 shares during the quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $7,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 306.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 120.4% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Advisors bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $171.97 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $103.17 and a one year high of $174.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.32.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $2.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 12.89%. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 26.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 8,251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $1,343,180.29. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 117,068 shares in the company, valued at $19,057,499.72. This represents a 6.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on STLD shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $145.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $165.00 price target on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.89.

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.