Analysts Set Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Target Price at $149.67

Shares of Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $149.67.

STLD has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Steel Dynamics from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Steel Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp raised Steel Dynamics from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd.

Steel Dynamics Stock Down 0.4 %

STLD stock opened at $118.24 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $126.17 and its 200 day moving average is $128.60. The firm has a market cap of $17.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.35. Steel Dynamics has a one year low of $103.17 and a one year high of $155.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.53.

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

Steel Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Steel Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Steel Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 20.41%.

Steel Dynamics announced that its board has approved 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Glenn Pushis sold 23,649 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.67, for a total value of $3,184,810.83. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 122,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,448,593.80. This represents a 16.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Steel Dynamics by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,628,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $642,033,000 after acquiring an additional 451,630 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,688,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $419,697,000 after purchasing an additional 30,350 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Steel Dynamics by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,592,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $409,816,000 after buying an additional 815,629 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,179,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $362,636,000 after purchasing an additional 393,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Steel Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $336,426,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.41% of the company’s stock.

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.