Westpac Banking Corp Sells 22,102 Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 42.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 22,102 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $3,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 43.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 5,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 21,577 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,800,000 after acquiring an additional 4,154 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 36.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 59,369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,970,000 after acquiring an additional 15,865 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Steel Dynamics by 20.5% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,852 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the period. Finally, Aviva PLC raised its position in Steel Dynamics by 4.5% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 64,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,388,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.32% of the company’s stock.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STLD traded down $2.26 during trading on Thursday, reaching $109.00. The company had a trading volume of 138,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,572,374. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.55 and a 52 week high of $136.46. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $105.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.37. The stock has a market cap of $17.64 billion, a PE ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.77.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 19th. The basic materials company reported $3.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.54 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $4.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.49 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 13.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.46 EPS. Analysts expect that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 14.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Steel Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, November 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 28th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In related news, Director Bradley S. Seaman sold 4,717 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.72, for a total value of $517,549.24. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,462 shares in the company, valued at $5,097,810.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 6.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on STLD. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Steel Dynamics in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Steel Dynamics from $115.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $94.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 8th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.89.

Steel Dynamics Company Profile

Steel Dynamics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer and metal recycler in the United States. It operates through three segments: Steel Operations, Metals Recycling Operations, and Steel Fabrication Operations. 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 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.