ARS Investment Partners LLC Sells 307 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

ARS Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 70,107 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 307 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $7,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 85.8% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,400,000 after buying an additional 1,060,007 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,546,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $194,933,000 after buying an additional 96,122 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $158,487,000 after buying an additional 253,802 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 116.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,434,000 after buying an additional 548,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 448,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,603,000 after buying an additional 80,262 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on STLD shares. Bank of America upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 target price (up from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.88.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the 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 directly owns 116,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Chad Bickford sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.86, for a total value of $269,720.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,306,106. This trade represents a 10.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,650 shares of company stock valued at $1,498,170 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of STLD stock opened at $125.83 on Tuesday. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.60 and a twelve month high of $155.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.65%.

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.