Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Given New $172.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) had its target price upped by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $169.00 to $172.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 10.09% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Steel Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Steel Dynamics from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Steel Dynamics from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.44.

Steel Dynamics Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ STLD traded up $1.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $156.23. 243,688 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,525,054. The stock has a market cap of $22.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Steel Dynamics has a one year low of $103.17 and a one year high of $164.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $145.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.42.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $2.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.11. Steel Dynamics had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 6.39%.The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Steel Dynamics will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Steel Dynamics news, SVP Miguel Alvarez sold 8,251 shares of Steel Dynamics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $1,343,180.29. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 117,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,057,499.72. The trade was a 6.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Steel Dynamics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STLD. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Steel Dynamics by 493.9% during the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Steel Dynamics by 1,636.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new stake in shares of Steel Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Steel Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. 82.41% of the stock is currently owned by 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.