Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $148.7778.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on STLD. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $143.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Steel Dynamics from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Steel Dynamics

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Graham sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.71, for a total value of $1,520,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 66,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,456,371.98. This represents a 15.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in Steel Dynamics by 24.4% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 6,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $836,000 after buying an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 27,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,441,000 after acquiring an additional 6,604 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Steel Dynamics by 124.1% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 948 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 16,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. 82.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

STLD opened at $144.39 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.19. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $21.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.40. Steel Dynamics has a 1 year low of $103.17 and a 1 year high of $155.56.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 11.88% and a net margin of 6.07%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.15%.

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.