Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Sells 592 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 592 shares during the period. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in STLD. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Steel Dynamics in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STLD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 5.9 %

STLD opened at $109.21 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. Analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.