Short Interest in Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Expands By 24.2%

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,750,000 shares, an increase of 24.2% from the December 15th total of 3,020,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Steel Dynamics Price Performance

STLD traded up $1.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $126.27. 162,919 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,571,709. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $19.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.48. Steel Dynamics has a 1 year low of $104.60 and a 1 year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 9.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.47 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 9.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Steel Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is 16.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STLD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Steel Dynamics from $134.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Steel Dynamics from $145.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $149.00 price target (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.88.

Insider Activity at Steel Dynamics

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 17,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.09, for a total transaction of $2,387,767.69. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 146,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,523,371.37. The trade was a 10.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 6,650 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 116,949 shares in the company, valued at $16,723,707. The trade was a 5.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,591 shares of company stock worth $3,885,938. 6.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STLD. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in Steel Dynamics by 85.8% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,295,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,007 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 116.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,018,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,434,000 after buying an additional 548,086 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,384,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $158,487,000 after buying an additional 253,802 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 65.3% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 571,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $74,064,000 after acquiring an additional 225,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Steel Dynamics in the second quarter worth about $24,670,000. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.