Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 12,232 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 412,537 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 12,232 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Steel Dynamics worth $53,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STLD. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on STLD shares. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $149.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $146.13.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

STLD traded down $1.82 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $116.76. 1,944,687 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,289,408. The company has a market capitalization of $17.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $136.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.67. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.60 and a fifty-two 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.47 EPS. Steel Dynamics's revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.09 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is 16.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,927,763.75. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938 over the last three months. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.