Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Purchased by Empirical Asset Management LLC

Empirical Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 44.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,293 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 85.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $289,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 116.5% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,434,000 after buying an additional 548,086 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $158,487,000 after buying an additional 253,802 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,138,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $276,891,000 after acquiring an additional 140,042 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $15,880,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total transaction of $269,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,306,106. This represents a 10.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,591 shares of company stock worth $3,885,938. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

NASDAQ:STLD opened at $125.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $129.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.36.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. Steel Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 16.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.88.

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.