HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 6,360 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,360 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $10,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Steel Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $127.14 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $127.38 and a 200 day moving average of $127.89. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.60 and a 52 week high of $155.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on STLD shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

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.