National Pension Service Decreases Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

National Pension Service trimmed its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 23.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 256,494 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 80,670 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.17% of Steel Dynamics worth $32,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 9.7% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 20,779 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,080,000 after acquiring an additional 1,845 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Csenge Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 9.0% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,858 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.8% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 6,686 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $991,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.5% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,938 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ STLD traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $148.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 643,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,270,110. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The company has a market capitalization of $22.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $125.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.72.

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 net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.47 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on STLD. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at $19,523,371.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,523,371.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,306,106. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company's stock.

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.