Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Sold by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,595 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 10,710 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $5,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Commerce Bank raised its stake in Steel Dynamics by 1.2% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 10.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 0.4% in the second quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 23,551 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,050,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 2.1% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,621 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on STLD. BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $149.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $140.88.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Steel Dynamics stock traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $125.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,359,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,395,611. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The company has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.36. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $129.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.44.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.47 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.78 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.65%.

Insider Transactions at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total transaction of $277,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at $2,927,763.75. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938 over the last 90 days. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.