Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $2.39 Million Stock Position in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) by 105.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,716 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Steel Dynamics were worth $2,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Steel Dynamics by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on STLD. Wolfe Research raised Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Steel Dynamics from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 target price on Steel Dynamics and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Steel Dynamics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.44.

Steel Dynamics Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of Steel Dynamics stock opened at $132.10 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.25. Steel Dynamics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.17 and a 12-month high of $155.56. The company has a market capitalization of $19.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.17 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 8.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics, Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.42%.

Steel Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 7,495 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.26, for a total value of $1,013,773.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 125,319 shares in the company, valued at $16,950,647.94. This represents a 5.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.