Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires 2,287 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,287 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $3,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics during the third quarter valued at $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 532.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on STLD shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.38.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

NASDAQ STLD opened at $122.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 1.36.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 earnings per share 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 17.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 18.78%.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard A. Poinsatte sold 2,000 shares of Steel Dynamics 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 21,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,927,763.75. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Steel Dynamics Company 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.