Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 41.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,958 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 105,639 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.10% of Steel Dynamics worth $17,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STLD has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $135.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.60 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $123.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.46. The company has a market capitalization of $20.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 1.35.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (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 in the previous year, the business posted $2.61 EPS. Analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.