Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Short Interest Up 24.2% in December

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on STLD shares. 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 objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Steel Dynamics from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.13.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of STLD traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $125.00. The company had a trading volume of 875,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,715,710. Steel Dynamics has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.49. The stock has a market cap of $19.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 1.36.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 19.82%. Steel Dynamics’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.47 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 9.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.00, for a total transaction of $950,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,723,707. This trade represents a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.75, for a total transaction of $277,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,927,763.75. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,591 shares of company stock valued at $3,885,938 over the last quarter. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $344,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 225,239 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,168,000 after acquiring an additional 19,348 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 48,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,280,000 after purchasing an additional 3,631 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 230,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,904,000 after purchasing an additional 19,853 shares during the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.