Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Short Interest Update

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,970,000 shares, an increase of 31.9% from the January 31st total of 3,010,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STLD. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,786,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $2,703,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 17,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,992,000 after acquiring an additional 3,867 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,113 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $146.22.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of STLD stock traded up $1.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $127.72. 2,152,721 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,336,560. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $125.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.61. The firm has a market cap of $19.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $2.61 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 20.41%.

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.