Principal Securities Inc. Purchases 625 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 38.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 8,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 50,184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,724,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 3,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Bailey Securities LLC lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 107.1% during the fourth quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 11,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 5,922 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD opened at $130.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.89. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a one year low of $104.60 and a one year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 8.76% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on STLD shares. Citigroup cut their target price on Steel Dynamics from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.22.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total transaction of $3,184,810.83. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 122,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This trade represents a 16.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.