Short Interest in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Declines By 19.2%

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,700,000 shares, a decline of 19.2% from the February 28th total of 3,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,860,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. The trade was a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STLD. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 0.9% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on STLD shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Steel Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.67.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $124.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Steel Dynamics has a 12 month low of $104.60 and a 12 month high of $155.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.90.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.