Metis Global Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 18.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,314 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,527 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $2,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of STLD. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 481.2% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 328,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,461,000 after purchasing an additional 272,226 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 65.3% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 571,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $74,064,000 after acquiring an additional 225,832 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the first quarter valued at about $32,178,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 21.6% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,137,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $168,550,000 after acquiring an additional 202,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the second quarter valued at about $24,670,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD stock opened at $139.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50-day moving average is $128.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.11. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. The business 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.47 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 16.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at $19,523,371.37. This represents a 10.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total transaction of $269,720.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,306,106. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,438 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on STLD. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.29.

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.