Altshuler Shaham Ltd Cuts Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd cut its position in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 31.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 172 shares during the quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $44,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,008,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $118,787,000 after purchasing an additional 11,026 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $14,762,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 3.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 363,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,975,000 after acquiring an additional 10,942 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 514,888 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,808,000 after acquiring an additional 59,668 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $1,087,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD stock traded down $1.89 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $130.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,147,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,201,802. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.55 and a 1 year high of $151.34. The company has a market capitalization of $20.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.98 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $138.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The basic materials company reported $3.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $0.13. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 12.89% and a return on equity of 27.62%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 14th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on STLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $120.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.17.

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.