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

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,970,000 shares, a growth of 31.9% from the January 31st total of 3,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on STLD shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. 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. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 532.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of STLD opened at $130.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.54. The stock has a market cap of $19.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics has a 1-year low of $104.60 and a 1-year high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.33). Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 24th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the basic materials company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 20.41%.

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.