Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 4,924 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD - Free Report) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 406,438 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 4,924 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Steel Dynamics worth $51,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of STLD. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,604,492 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $534,295,000 after buying an additional 152,254 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 140,042 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.3% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,768,333 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $228,999,000 after purchasing an additional 22,390 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 3.9% during the second 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 during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 21.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,137,230 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $168,550,000 after purchasing an additional 202,312 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STLD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.29.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD traded up $1.60 on Friday, reaching $139.41. 1,297,847 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,269,242. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company's 50 day moving average is $128.98 and its 200-day moving average is $127.09. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.47 earnings per share. Steel Dynamics's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.65%.

Insider Activity

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total value of $950,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at $16,723,707. The trade was a 5.38 % 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, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was 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 10.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,591 shares of company stock worth $3,608,438. 6.00% of the stock is 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.