Erste Asset Management GmbH Invests $1.42 Million in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,295 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,417,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 33.3% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 400 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the second quarter valued at $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on STLD. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $145.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total value of $2,387,767.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,523,371.37. This represents a 10.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total transaction of $277,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at $2,927,763.75. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938. Insiders own 6.10% of the company's stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Steel Dynamics stock traded down $1.82 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $141.38. 1,099,841 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,274,807. The firm's 50 day moving average is $135.91 and its 200 day moving average is $127.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.39. The stock has a market cap of $21.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 1.31. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.60 and a 52-week high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.47 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.65%.

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.