Kentucky Retirement Systems Decreases Stock Holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 420 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $1,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 344,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,694,000 after purchasing an additional 37,033 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,034,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $153,290,000 after buying an additional 25,280 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 743,697 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $87,831,000 after buying an additional 98,764 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 1,498.4% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,407,000 after acquiring an additional 27,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trustmark National Bank Trust Department increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 126.6% during the 1st quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 7,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 3,986 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.29.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STLD opened at $119.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 1.32. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.25 and a 12 month high of $151.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business has a 50-day moving average of $120.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.08.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The basic materials company reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 22.89%. Steel Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 10.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 12.64%.

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.