Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,659,954 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 604,328 shares during the quarter. Steel Dynamics makes up 0.8% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 1.75% of Steel Dynamics worth $335,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $289,400,000 after buying an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,138,157 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $276,891,000 after buying an additional 140,042 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,768,333 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $228,999,000 after purchasing an additional 22,390 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,546,104 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $194,933,000 after acquiring an additional 96,122 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,410,070 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $182,604,000 after purchasing an additional 53,532 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. This trade represents a 10.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 28,591 shares of company stock worth $3,885,938. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STLD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $145.63.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ STLD traded down $3.37 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $138.01. The company had a trading volume of 389,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,270,907. The firm's 50 day moving average is $136.27 and its 200-day moving average is $127.98. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79 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.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.47 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Steel Dynamics's payout ratio is 16.65%.

Steel Dynamics 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.