Securian Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. $STLD

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 433.1% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,816,525 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $227,211,000 after buying an additional 1,475,767 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,066,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $883,854,000 after buying an additional 1,437,897 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 531.0% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,191,669 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $149,054,000 after buying an additional 1,002,813 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 43.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,088,372 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $271,238,000 after buying an additional 630,935 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth $62,470,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 1.5%

STLD opened at $150.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.17 and a 52 week high of $156.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.51. The company has a market capitalization of $22.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.40.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.11. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.49%.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.71, for a total value of $1,520,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 66,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,456,371.98. This trade represents a 15.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on STLD. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $155.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.33.

About Steel Dynamics

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.