Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,750,000 shares, an increase of 24.2% from the December 15th total of 3,020,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,420,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total value of $277,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,927,763.75. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total value of $2,387,767.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at $19,523,371.37. This trade represents a 10.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,591 shares of company stock worth $3,885,938 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commerce Bank increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position 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 worth $1,267,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates grew its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 23,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,050,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STLD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Steel Dynamics from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.88.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STLD traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $125.83. 1,359,763 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,395,611. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.39. Steel Dynamics has a one year low of $104.60 and a one year high of $155.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $129.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.46.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 9.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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